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Australia v India, CB Series, 1st final, Sydney
Tendulkar ends many jinxes
Cricinfo staff
March 2, 2008
Stats highlights from the first final of the CB Series, between Australia and India.
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Sachin Tendulkar got rid of some jinxes in Sydney
© Getty Images
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Sachin Tendulkar's unbeaten 117 brought to an end quite a few streaks. Tendulkar hadn't scored a century in 38 ODIs in Australia prior to this match, but came up with one in his 39th to put India 1-0 ahead in the best-of-three finals.
The hundred also brought to an end Tendulkar's quest for his 42nd ODI hundred. It had been 37 matches since his last one, against West Indies in Vadodara in January 2007, and compounding the drought was fact that he was dismissed six times in the 90s, including a record three occasions on 99.
It was Tendulkar's 16th hundred while batting second, and his first since March 2004, when he scored 141 against Pakistan in Rawalpindi. An impressive 14 of those 16 have resulted in wins; however, the last match-winning innings came in Harare against West Indies in 2001. The knock was also Tendulkar's first hundred in the finals of a tournament since 1998.
Tendulkar has scored eight hundreds against Australia, which is the highest by a batsman against a specific opposition. Saeed Anwar and Tendulkar have scored seven each against Sri Lanka.
India ended their Sydney jinx against Australia; this was their first ODI win at the SCG against the hosts in 12 matches.
The win also brought to an end India's dismal streak while playing in the finals of the tri-series in Australia. In three earlier occasions when they made it to the finals - in 1985-86, 1991-92, and 2003-04 - India ended up losing the best-of-three contests 2-0, all to Australia.
With Sunday's loss against India, Australia have now been beaten in three consecutive games in the finals of their home tri-series, having been upstaged by England 2-0 in the best-of-three finals in 2007. It's only the second occasion that Australia have been on the losing side in three finals' games in a row; the last time was during the 1992-93 and 1993-94 seasons, when they lost twice to West Indies and once to South Africa.
After this defeat, Australia need to win the next two games to clinch the finals. They have done this three times in the past in triangular tournaments at home - in 1993-94 and 1997-98 against South Africa, and against Sri Lanka a couple of seasons back.
© Cricinfo
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