Scoring a hundred in a successful fourth innings run chase was according to Tendulkar himself something he had wanted, the one achievement missing from his CV. Little wonder then that he rated this innings as ``up there’’ and ``one of the best’’ among all his hundreds. And it was no ordinary run chase as India were set a target of 387 – the highest successful attempt in a Test in Asia and the fifth highest in all Tests. The first of the two- match series started with England scoring 316 to which India replied with 241. With Andrew Strauss getting his second hundred of the match Kevin Pietersen was able to declare at 311 for nine late on the penultimate day leaving India a tough task. Virender Sehwag led the way with 83 off 68 balls with 11 fours and four sixes but the fall of Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman at regular intervals on the final morning put some pressure on the Indians. When Yuvraj Singh joined Tendulkar India were 163 runs away from their target and England seemed to have the edge with their balanced attack of Steve Harmison, Andrew Flintoff, James Anderson, Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar. But with determination writ large on his face Tendulkar did not falter and he and Yuvraj (85 not out) steered India to victory without further hiccups the master making the winning boundary hit that also brought up his hundred off 196 balls with nine boundary hits.
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