Reliving Sachin Tendulkar's Cricket World Cup centuries 

India v Sri Lanka - 2011 ICC World Cup Final
India v Sri Lanka - 2011 ICC World Cup Final

Sachin Tendulkar is widely acclaimed as the greatest cricketer of all-time. A career filled with accolades, he is the leading run-scorer in ODI and test formats. He is also the only cricketer to hit 100 centuries in international cricket. He was known for his talent to score even against some of the world's deadliest bowling attacks.

Tendulkar featured in 463 matches for India and scored 18426 runs at an average of 44.83 with 49 centuries and 96 half-centuries. He is also the first player in ODI cricket to hit a double-century.

The little master holds the record for highest number of World Cup centuries. He scored a total of six centuries in the event. This article is dedicated towards his class as we go through his centuries in the highly prestigious tournament.


#6 111 vs South Africa, Nagpur, 2011

India v South Africa: Group B - 2011 ICC World Cup
India v South Africa: Group B - 2011 ICC World Cup

India were pitted against South Africa in a Group B match of the 2011 World Cup. Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat first. The veteran opening duo of Sachin and Sehwag gave India the kind of start they wanted, building a 142-run first wicket partnership before the latter got dismissed by Du Plessis for 73.

Sachin went on to score his 48th ODI century and made 111 off 101 balls, accompanied by 8 fours and 3 sixes at a strike rate of 109.90. India managed to get to a respectable total of 296.

In reply, Amla and Kallis played match-winning knocks scoring 61 and 69 respectively to chase it down with 2 balls remaining. Though Zaheer Khan delivered early breakthrough sending back opener Graeme Smith, Indians could not capitalize on it and the match slipped away.

Dale Steyn was awarded the Man of the Match for his 5/50 to restrict India to a chasable total of 296.

#5 120 vs England, Bengaluru, 2011

India v England: Group B - 2011 ICC World Cup
India v England: Group B - 2011 ICC World Cup

This is probably one of the greatest matches in the history of World Cup. India won the toss and chose to bat first against England in a group-stage game of the 2011 edition of the tournament.

Sehwag was out after making a quick-fire 36 off 25 and India were in trouble at 46-1. The Master Blaster then stitched a much-needed 134-run partnership with Gautam Gambhir for the second wicket. Sachin went on to make a blistering 120 off 115 with 10 fours and 5 sixes. India were all-out for 338.

For England, it was Andrew Strauss who stood tall against all odds and scored a magnificent 158 off 145 with 18 fours and a six. Ian Bell too chipped in with 69 off 71. When the match was seemingly gone, Zaheer Khan brought them back into the game with two crucial wickets of Bell and Collingwood.

The match eventually ended in a tie. Strauss was awarded the man of the match for his swashbuckling innings.

#4 127 vs Kenya, Cuttack, 1996

Credit: sport360
Credit: sport360

In the 1996 World Cup, India were up against Kenya. India won the toss and chose to field first. Kenya got bundled out for just 199, behind Kumble's 3/28 in the allotted ten overs. Steve Tikolo was the top-scorer with 65 off 83.

In return, the opening duo of Sachin-Jadeja exploded for a 163-run first-wicket partnership and chased down the total easily. Sachin Tendulkar made 127 off 138 with 15 fours and a six at a strike rate of 92.03. This was Tendulkar's 5th ODI century and his first in a World Cup.

Sachin Tendulkar was adjudged the Man of the Match for his brilliant century that played a key role in the win.

#3 137 vs Sri Lanka, Delhi, 1996

Sachin

After hitting a century earlier in the tournament, Tendulkar scored yet-another century, this time against Sri Lanka. The Lankans chose to field first after winning the toss. India lost opener Manoj Prabhakar for just 7 off 36.

Sachin then went on to score 137 off 137 accompanied by 8 fours and 5 sixes at a strike-rate of 100.00. He stitched a 175-run partnership with Azharuddin for the third wicket.

In return, Sri Lanka chased this down quite comfortably, on the back of Jayasuriya's 79 off 76 and Hashan Tilakaratne's 70 off 98. The Sri Lankan innings included 26 fours and 3 sixes. The islanders comfortably won the game by 6 wickets.

Sachin's century came in a losing cause and Jayasuriya was awarded the Man of the Match award for his opening heroics.

#2 140* off 101 vs Kenya, Bristol, 1999

Credit:CricketCountry
Credit: CricketCountry

Kenya won the toss against India and chose to field first. India were left reeling at 90-2 losing both the openers, Ramesh and Ganguly. Sachin who came in at No.4 then built a 237-run partnership for the 3rd wicket with Dravid to take India to a huge total of 329. Tendulkar made a quick-fire 140 off 101 with 16 fours and 3 sixes at a strike rate of 138.61.

Chasing an improbable target of 330, Kenya could only make 235 for the loss of 7 wickets, thanks to Mohanty's 4/56. Steve Tikolo was the top-scorer for Kenya with 58 runs. Otieno too registered a half-century scoring 56 off 82 balls.

This was Sachin's second-century against Kenya in World Cups and he was rightly presented the Man of the Match award.

#1 152 vs Namibia, City Oval, 2003

Sachin in action against Namibia
Sachin in action against Namibia

India were up against Namibia for this game. Namibia won the toss and chose to bowl first. Indian opener Sehwag got dismissed for just 24. Tendulkar then built a huge partnership of 244 with Ganguly to take India to a good total of 311 in 50 overs.

Tendulkar registered a century and scored 152 off 151 with 18 fours at a strike rate of 100.66.

In reply, Namibia only managed to score 130 and were bundled out in 42.3 overs. Yuvraj Singh spun a web with 4/6 in 4.3 overs which included 2 maidens at an economy rate of 1.33.

India won the game by a huge margin of 181 runs and Sachin Tendulkar once again took home the Man of the Match award.

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Edited by Kumud Ranjan