Tendulkar focussed amid the frenzy

There were whites, there were blacks, there were browns at the grass banks of SuperSport Park, and all they wanted was for Sachin Tendulkar's 50th Test hundred to come in front of them

He was in a foreign land. At least a land that has stayed the most foreign to India even after their resurgence away from home. They started chanting "Sachin, Sachin" from the time he guided one past short third man to move to 88. There were whites, there were blacks, there were browns at the grass banks of SuperSport Park, and all they wanted was for Sachin Tendulkar's 50th Test hundred to come in front of them.

It was difficult to not let that affect you, but Tendulkar was in a different sphere. He was trying to save a game, trying to kill time, trying to run through the deficit. He took his time to get to 89, and South Africa tried to cut out boundary-scoring areas. A forward short leg came in, Morne Morkel bowled bouncers, around the helmet area, and into the ribs. Tendulkar kept ducking, the lower ones he kept keeping out; if he was nervous, he wasn't showing it. Against Paul Harris, who has somehow managed to be India's nemesis, he hit a straight six to send the crowd into frenzy again.

The chants started again. When at 97, he faced another flurry of bouncers. One of them went for five wides. Ten deliveries he spent on 97. Then came Dale Steyn. He got an inside-edge past midwicket to move to 99. Then he squirted one between cover and extra cover, celebrating as he ran the 100th run. Not extravagantly. The helmet came off, the back arched a bit, and he looked up to the skies. Not sure he noticed, but there were clouds headed towards the ground. He had a chat with MS Dhoni, with whom he had added 160 priceless runs. He then raised the bat to the dressing room for a brief second, then to the crowd for a little while longer, and went back to business. There was a Test to be saved. This was not the time to get carried away.

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Perth classic Tendulkar's finest

With Sachin Tendulkar reaching 50 Test centuries, ESPNcricinfo asked some of his team-mates to pick the best of the lot

VVS Laxman 114 in Perth, 1992

I was young and watched that innings on TV and that innings became very, very special immediately and it still remains. For somebody on his first tour of Australia, especially when the team is not doing well, and to score a century on a fiery track like Perth at a tender age said a lot about Tendulkar's talent. Some of the shots showed glimpses of a great batsman at work. Some of the shots he played against Merv Hughes are a dream for any batsman: being a short guy, on a bouncy track, against a quick bowler and to play on the up, you have to have a lot of talent to do that. He displayed that in abundance during that century. He remained positive even as the wickets fell around him and play naturally. He dominated the Australian bowlers easily. Even to a youngster then t became clear how special Sachin was.

Javagal Srinath 114 in Perth, 1992

It was a wicket where there were a lot of cracks. It was quick, real fast as the WACA was famous for in those days. There was no player who could really face the Australian attack. Tendulkar was just 18 or something and he was not only able to stand up to the bowling but bat aggressively. The ball was deviating left, right and centre from the cracks. No-one really knew how the ball would travel after pitching. But Tendulkar encountered it with such aplomb that it became the highlight of that series in many ways even if we lost the Test. My other favourite Tendulkar century was against South Africa in Johannesburg against Allan Donald and Brian McMillan at their fastest on a very pacy Wanderers' pitch. Another top-pick is the terrific century against Pakistan in Chennai in 1999. It was mind over matter, about handling the pressure every ball.

Rahul Dravid 116 in Melbourne, 1999

To me this was a special hundred because he was captain of the team and we were struggling as a unit in that series and not playing particularly good cricket. And here was Tendulkar, facing up to a good bowling attack comprising Glenn McGrath, Damien Fleming, Brett Lee and Shane Warne, and, standing tall when nobody else was scoring runs. He was in total control. For a long part of his career had some good batsmen around him but that was a time when a lot of us were young and none of us was playing well and he had to carry it on his own. And he did it beautifully. In some ways it was a Lara-esque innings because [Brian] Lara for a long time had to carry the side on his own. And the pressure is never easy. It was definitely not the toughest wicket he batted on but the atmosphere at the MCG and batting without any support was just brilliant. As a leader he was under tremendous pressure and to come in and make a terrific century was really a standout innings.

John Wright 126 vs Australia, Chennai 2001

The hundred I'll always remember is his 126 versus Australia in Chennai 2001. Counting back, it was his twenty-fifth hundred, at what was to be a halfway stage that we wouldn't have thought about then. It was a big, big game, the world's champion team, a Test that was going to decide the series, a contest between some greats of the modern game - Warne, McGrath and Sachin. I think he just loved that stage. He had come into that series in good form, and was batting beautifully even though until Chennai he had not got a century in the series. They were saying that the Aussies had been thinking about that, that Tendulkar's big knock was due. It was coming. There was also a lot of talk about how India depended too much on him. For me, though, the outsider who had come into Indian cricket without any baggage, you never picked that up inside the changing room. There was an overall confidence all the way through the team, its batsmen and its bowlers. The Aussies won the toss and put up a big first-innings score and we knew that we had to get close to it to get a foothold in the game. It was our big player who pulled out his big innings which gave us a chance to win that game. When he came in we were about 180 behind Australia, and when he was out, India were 77 in front. I remember him hitting Colin Miller for a six to reach his hundred. The ball went over long-on into the far end of the ground, we were sitting in our viewing area with spectators on two sides of us behind us and on our right and the celebration was wild. And loud. As much as we may see batsmen hitting sixes to reach centuries now, something like that was rarely done ten years ago. It was wonderful, emphatic, a statement. He was up against McGrath, Warne, Gillespie and the world's best team. It was hot and sweltering, we were sweating buckets sitting out in the viewing area and the crowd was packed in to every inch of the ground. And then, there was Sachin batting for us, batting for them.

Navjot Sidhu 114 in Perth, 1992

The ball was really bouncing around that day. Normally for a short-statured man it is very, very difficult to face the short ball, but the consummate ease with which Tendulkar played those horizontal cut shots on that pitch were amazing. Even a good length ball was going top of the stumps but Tendulkar showed his mastery with his wrists - he played the pull shot, cuts and flick using the wrists beautifully on the fastest pitch at the time - in a way proving already at the age how great he was.

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'Congrats you massive little legend!'

Sanjay Manjrekar: "He has got it finally! and judging from his reaction..meant a lot to him...the 50th test ton..this is one record that is there to stay."

Harsha Bhogle: "All great players redefine their profession.50 Test hundreds was considered unthinkable. Sachin has done it."

Yuvraj Singh: "Greatest achievement by a bats man ever! His name is sachinnnnnnn tendulkarrrrrrrrrr!! Wooohooooooooo."

Iain O'Brien: "Congrats you little massive legend!"

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Tendulkar and Dhoni hold up South Africa

South Africa took such a significant stride towards victory during the first session that it seemed as though their 1-0 lead would be secure before tea on the fourth day at SuperSport Park. However, they faced resistance: first from Sachin Tendulkar, whose concentration did not waver as his middle-order mates departed meekly, and then from MS Dhoni, whose belligerent approach brought rewards on a sparsely-populated outfield.

After taking four wickets before lunch, including the prized scalps of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, South Africa were wicketless in the second session. They took the new ball as soon as it became available after 80 overs but India's run-rate only increased as the shiny Kookaburra raced off Dhoni and Tendulkar's bats. Their partnership for the seventh wicket was worth 117 and they had reduced the deficit to 90. For the first time in the Test, India had an iota of hope, especially with the unpredictable weather in Centurion. But even if Tendulkar reaches his 50th Test century and Dhoni also remains unbeaten at stumps, South Africa will still be one wicket away from regaining immediate control of the game.

When Dhoni walked out with Tendulkar after lunch, with India six down and trailing by 207, it seemed a question of when and not if South Africa would win on the fourth day. The desperateness of the situation allowed Dhoni to play aggressively and he did so, driving Lonwabo Tsotsobe past mid-off and through cover in the first over after the break - the 79th of the innings.

Seeking a quick end to the match, Smith gave the new ball to Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, urging them to take the wicket that would expose India's tail. It did not happen. Tendulkar's was calmness and good judgment personified, while Dhoni attacked, sometimes merely pushing the ball with enviable timing through the off side, sometimes lashing drives and cuts with high back-lift and fierce follow-through. Both approaches yielded boundaries, and he began to catch up with Tendulkar.

Mokel, who tormented India with pace and bounce on the opening day, leaked 13 in his second over with the new ball. Tendulkar cut him fiercely, and Dhoni pulled and drove through cover. There were a glut of boundaries in the first hour after lunch, three of which Dhoni took off consecutive deliveries from Jacques Kallis, leaving the bowler chuntering at the end of the over.

Paul Harris got the odd ball to jump, turn and trouble Tendulkar, but he was largely ineffective, considering he was operating on a fourth-day surface. As the deficit decreased towards 100, Dhoni tempered his aggression, while Tendulkar continued batting resolutely, his cutting and driving off the back foot being the stand-out feature of the innings.

South Africa will attempt to regroup during tea, and take the wicket that will restore the dominance they've enjoyed for 11 sessions.

That 11th session of dominance contained four Indian wickets, the last of which was Suresh Raina, brittle as ever, hanging his bat outside off stump in the final over before lunch to edge Kallis to slip. His dismissal had reduced India to 277 for 6, and it was the perfect end to a session in which South Africa had performed with patience.

Dravid and the nightwatchman Ishant Sharma had played carefully and their partnership lasted 48 minutes, holding up South Africa. Morkel thought he had broken the resistance when he stooped during his follow through to catch a leading edge off Ishant, but umpire Ian Gould asked the third umpire to check if Morkel had overstepped. He had. The frustration didn't last long, however, as Steyn had Ishant caught at short leg. The ball travelled quickly to Amla, who took a sharp catch to his left.

During his composed innings, Dravid went past 12,000 Test runs but India needed much more from him than 43. Morkel accounted for him by angling one into him before seaming it away, grazing the outside edge of Dravid's tentative push. Laxman stayed scoreless for eight balls but used the opportunity against Harris to treat the spectators to two sublime shots - a cover drive and a wristy flick. He wasn't as comfortable against pace, though, often playing from his crease, and eventually edged a full ball to gully, giving Tsotsobe his first wicket of the match.

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Harris takes six to level Ashes series

Australia wasted no time in levelling the Ashes series with a crushing 267-run victory at the WACA as Ryan Harris tore out the remaining resistance with a Test-best 6 for 47 to humble England. He finished off the visitors in a hurry as they were blown away in 10 overs on the fourth morning to set up a potentially thrilling conclusion to this series over the Christmas and New Year period.

Harris collected the rewards that eluded him in Adelaide as he finished with nine in the match, while Mitchell Johnson claimed the other wicket to fall as he, too, picked up nine. Johnson's revival in this match reflects Australia's upward curve, leaving England with much to ponder before the MCG Test starts on Boxing Day.

This was Australia's first Test victory in six matches since beating Pakistan at Lord's. It gave Ricky Ponting, who didn't take the field due to a broken little finger, the perfect 36th birthday present and will ease the pressure on him for the time being although he faces a race to be fit for Melbourne.


James Anderson was the first to depart when he played back to Harris, lost his off stump and will have left with Australian chirping ringing in his ears. Ian Bell and Matt Prior were England's last chance of extending the context, but after a few more elegant cover drives Bell tried to work a straight ball through the leg side and was trapped straight in front. He asked for a review, but it was a hollow gesture.

Two deliveries later Harris had his five when Prior could only fend the ball towards gully where Michael Hussey, another who has enjoyed an outstanding Test, dived to his right to hold a sharp chance. The roars of the Australians, both the players and supporters, were deafening as the momentum of this series continued to swing towards the hosts in dramatic fashion.

Graeme Swann predictably had a swing but it didn't last long when he inside-edged a drive at Johnson and the final wicket went to Harris when Steven Finn fended to third slip. It was a clinical conclusion, a reminder of how Australia used to finish off Test matches and they were unrecognisable from the Test thrashed in Adelaide.

From being 5 for 69 on the first day this has been one of finest Test turnarounds in recent times and they'll take a huge surge of confidence into the next clash. However, both teams will remember that a similar momentum-shift occurred in 2009 when Australia won at Headingley before England secured the Ashes at The Oval. Despite the margin of victory in this, and the previous match, these two teams are closely matched and the series could turn into a classic.

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