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Australia v India, 2nd Test, Sydney, 3rd day
Tendulkar's SCG success and Gilchrist bags No. 400
George Binoy and HR Gopalakrishna
January 4, 2008
Stats highlights from the third day of the Sydney Test between Australia and India.
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Sachin Tendulkar delighted the Sydney crowd with his third hundred at the SCG
© Getty Images
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Following his unbeaten 154, Sachin Tendulkar now averages an amazing 326 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. He has scored 652 runs at the SCG and his last 455 runs have come without being dismissed. Tendulkar's average at the SCG is his best at any ground. He has now scored a century on each of his four tours of Australia - five in all - out of which three have been scored at the SCG.
During his innings, Tendulkar also passed 2000 Test runs against the Australians. At the end of his innings, his aggregate stood at 2090 runs in 42 innings at an average of 56.48, with eight hundreds and as many half-centuries. Sunil Gavaskar is the only other Indian batsman to score more than 2000 runs against a particular country - against West Indies, England and Pakistan.
The 129-run partnership for the eighth wicket between Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh was the highest for India against Australia beating Syed Kirmani and Karsan Ghavri's 127 in Mumbai in 1979. It was also the fourth-highest overall eighth-wicket stand for India in Tests.
Adam Gilchrist's catch to dismiss Mahendra Singh Dhoni was his 400th dismissal in Tests. He is the second wicketkeeper to reach the landmark after South Africa's Mark Boucher. Gilchrist also beat Jeff Dujon's record of 60 dismissals against India. He now has 62 against India and 402 overall.
This was also only the second time that the eighth wicket had produced century partnerships for both teams - Andrew Symonds and Brett Lee had added 114 for Australia after which, Tendulkar and Harbhajan added 129. The first time this happened was in the Lahore Test between Australia and Pakistan in 1980, Allan Border and Ray Bright added 109 before Majid Khan and Imran Khan added 111.
India's 69-run lead was the first time a team has taken a first innings lead against Australia since the Adelaide Test during the 2006-07 Ashes, when England gained a 38-run lead. The Adelaide Test was also the last time a team scored over 500 in an innings against Australia.
Harbhajan passed 1000 runs in Tests during his 63, which was his third half-century in Tests. He reached the landmark when he was on 7, making him the 16th player - the third Indian after Kapil Dev and Anil Kumble - to complete 1000 runs and 250 wickets in Tests.
Ishant Sharma's 23 was his highest first-class score and it more than doubled his aggregate which had stood at 15 runs after 13 innings before this match.
Stuart Clark's figures of 1 for 80 tipped his bowling average over 20 for the second time in his 13-Test career . His average rose to 20.24 during the second Test against Sri Lanka in Hobart, fell to 19.33 after the Melbourne Test against India and now stands at 20.35.
George Binoy is a staff writer at Cricinfo
© Cricinfo
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