Sachin Tendulkar's ODI Double Century Nails SA In ODI 2 At Half Time

Sachin Tendulkar spared no one and no ball. Every moment was made to count as he wrote himself into the history books, (yet again!), this time with the world’s first ODI double century in the men’s game, in the second ODI of the India South Africa ODI series.
Runs flowed like milk and honey. It was no longer about the singles and two’s. It was raining fours and sixes and one had to feel for the opposition, totally numbed into submission.
The Captain Roop Singh Stadium in Gwalior will now go down in history as the hallowed turf where not only was the ODI cricket’s first double century, 200 runs, scored by one individual but also, it was none other than Tendulkar who made it happen.
On a perfect pitch and a slightly nervous opposition, Tendulkar made the most the conditions, throwing caution to the wind and yet playing a flawless innings of single handed majesty and towering eminence. His team mates at the crease could only stand back and hold their wicket at the other end.
The opposition was pushed against the wall, forced to forget their basic game plan. It is an intimidating prospect to have the batsman pulverize the bowling, and the South Africans failed to find their line and length and when they did, the effort was destroyed by an effortless loft for a six or four.
(FYI: It was Australia’s woman cricketer, Belinda Clarke who scored the first double century in the ODI arena).
Even as adulation was being written after he hit his 46th ODI century, he was racing away to 150 and by the time, one truly grasped how close this was going to be an opportunity to make history, Tendulkar was closing in on 180.
The time thereafter to convert it to 200 seemed eternal. Mahendra Singh Dhoni simply could not rotate the strike, because he was hitting fours and sizes and wallopping he visitors himself. Eventually it went down to the final over, and after another six, the Indian captain yielded the strike to Tendulkar who became the first cricketer in history to hit 200 in just 247 balls.
The score incidentally was 401 for three at the end of 50 overs. A 101 run partnership off just fifty-four balls for Dhoni and Tendulkar.

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