A comprehensive victory for India after a record-breaking effort from Sachin Tendulkar. de Villiers put up a fight but after those early wickets, any hopes of a repeat of that miracle chase against Australia were erased. India have won the series 2-0, but the talk of the town is that knock from Tendulkar. We'll have him talking soon in the presentation ceremony so stay tuned.
An excited Ravi Shastri's the man at the presentation. There's a huge panel he has to introduce before the proceedings can get underway.
Kallis: "The toss was quite vital. Our basics were just weren't good enough today. We were outplayed. We lost wickets at crucial stages, or basics let us down. A fantastic innings by Sachin; he took advantage of some good conditions and he played superbly. We let us down in some areas."
Dhoni: "Once Viru got out it was important to get some runs. Dinesh and Sachin batted really well. We were eyeing 350 when they were going strong. But Sachin batted through the innings and he played really well, using the pace of the ball when he got tired. Yusuf was sent up the order and with the talent he's got, he can be a great asset to the side. I have changed my batting, but the situation demanded that kind [attacking] of innings. The ground is a small one, and we were a bit worried about the dew factor. But once they lost 3-4 early wickets, it was difficult for them to get back into the game."
The Gwalior Division Cricket Association is gifting Sachin with a silver bat, a pavilion will be named in his honour on this ground and he'll also be paid Rs. Ten lakh for this performance.
Needless to say, he's the Man of the Match.
Tendulkar: ": I don't know how to react to this.I would like to dedicate this to the people of India who have always stood behind me for these 20 years amid the ups and downs. I was striking the ball and timing the ball well, it was coming on to the bat nicely. Yusuf came and changed the momentum and MS really struck the ball well; it was due to their big hitting that we were able to put up such a big score. It was only when I got closer to the score that I realised that I had an opportunity and I could take the singles to give MS the strike.
I'm enjoying my cricket. I've always played the way I felt was the right way to play, always done what I felt was good for the team. There have been times when I've made some bad decisions as a batsman, but as long as in my heart I know that whatever I'm doing for the team at that moment, I'm going to go ahead with that. It feels good that I lasted for 50 overs, a good test of my fitness. I'd like to bat another 50 overs at some stage and see that the fitness level doesn't drop."
That's all we have from here folks. Thanks for tuning in and sending us your feedback. There is still another game to go in this series, so do join us then. On behalf of George Binoy, Gopi R and everyone at Cricinfo, this is Sid Talya signing off. Goodbye.
P.S - Do check out the all-important bulletin for this game, which will be updated in just a moment.
CK Langeveldt c Nehra b Jadeja 12 (24m 11b 3x4 0x6) SR: 109.09
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Indian coach satisfied youngsters got an opportunity to test themselves against a strong tem
AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis hit contrasting centuries to build on the platform laid by the openers to charge South Africa to an imposing 365 which proved beyond the reach of the inexperienced Indian batting line-up in the third ODI in Ahmedabad
