On this day in 1996: Sachin Tendulkar scored a dazzling 90 against Australia in a World Cup match
On this day in 1996: Sachin Tendulkar scored a dazzling 90 against Australia in a World Cup match
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Legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar registered a memorable World Cup innings on this day when he scored 90 runs in a match against Australia during the 1996 World Cup, held at his home ground of Mumbai.
Tendulkar’s heroic lone hand against an attack comprising Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne and Damien Fleming cemented the batter’s stand in world cricket.
In the 19th match of the 1996 Cricket World Cup, Australia won the toss and chose to bat first. Captain Mark Taylor galloped to 59 before he was dismissed by Venkatapathy Raju. Mark Waugh hit 126 from 135 balls and became the first man to score consecutive World Cup centuries. The last seven wickets of Australia fell for 26, with four batters being dismissed in the last over. Australia made a total of 258 in the match against India.
Chasing a target of 259 runs from 50 overs, Ajay Jadeja and Vinod Kambli were dismissed by Fleming for just 1 and 0 respectively. Mohammad Azharuddin and Tendulkar then joined hands in to repair the damage. Tendulkar unleashed a flurry of boundaries on Australia’s McGrath. Before the end of the 11th over, India was at 50 with Tendulkar unbeaten on 41 off 35 balls.
However, after dislodging McGrath off his rhythm, it was time for a 23-year-old Tendulkar to face one of the greatest bowlers of cricket, Warne. In the first ball of the thirteenth over, Tendulkar reached fifty, giving a clear message that he would equal every move that the Australian spin wizard dished up against him.
The Master Blaster kept making runs with his outstanding batting and remained steady even after Azharuddin’s dismissal. Tendulkar survived the opposition’s best bowler and soon raced to 90 from 84 balls, which included 14 glorious boundaries and a six. India needed 116 runs to win the match when Tendulkar was stumped off a wide delivery from Mark Waugh. Tendulkar’s wonderful innings came to an end with India’s score on 143.
India finished at 242, with Sanjay Majrekar adding a valuable 62 and Nayan Mongia hitting 27. However, despite Tendulkar’s brilliant innings, the home team lost the match by 16 runs.
Nevertheless, Tendulkar showed Mumbai and the world that he was a true batting genius.
The Master Blaster went on to shatter numerous cricket records in his 24-year long international career, which also included lifting the World Cup Trophy in 2011.
