Mumbai: It was befitting farewell to the Master Blaster as India beat West Indies by an innings and 126 runs in Sachin Tendulkar's 200th and farewell Test at Wankhade Stadium here on Saturday.
Emotions poured in from everywhere as Tendulkar left the playing arena, which he dominated for 24 long years. The Master Blaster got standing ovations from his teammates as well as the fans who had thronged the stadium to see the champion for one last time.
Starting the day at 43 for three, the West Indies were routed for just 187 in their second innings as Pragyan Ojha completed a match-haul of 10 wickets taking his second five-for.
Only seven sessions of play was possible in a Test match in which one of the most respected and celebrated cricketers in the history bid goodbye to the game in front of his home crowd. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni introduced Sachin Tendulkar to roll his arms for a couple of overs for one last time after the fall of eighth wicket and the Little Master was cheered by one and all.
The moment after the final West Indies wicket fell, the Indian cricketers converged around Sachin and handed him a souvenir stump as they came one by one to hug him. After that a relay 'Guard of Honour' was given by Dhoni and his men as Tendulkar walked out of the pitch one final time trying hard to conceal his emotions under the floppy sun hat.
Coming to the match, West Indies were in for trouble once Marlon Samuels (11) was stumped by Mahedra Singh Dhoni off Pragyan Ojha early in the first session. Gayle also followed suit as he edged a straighter one from Ojha for Dhoni to take a sharp catch. At 87 for five, there was a fear that the match may well get over even before lunch session as Narsingh Deonarine (0) offered a simple return catch to become Ojha's fourth victim of the innings and ninth of the match.
However Chanderpaul, playing his 150th Test match offered some resistance in company of Denesh Ramdin (53) as they added 68 runs for the seventh wicket before the veteran padded up one from Ashwin that went straight after pitching. Chanderpaul scored 41 with four boundaries.
Skipper Darren Sammy (1) who had demoted himself in the batting order didn't fare any better. Ramdin, however, continued hitting the odd boundaries in between as he reached half-century as wickets fell at the other end. It was Mohammed Shami, who brought an end with a typical inswinging delivery that brought curtains down on a wonderful career.
Shane Shillingford (8) hung in there for sometime and helped Ramdin complete his half-century. But it was only a matter of time before Shillingford finally got an off-break from Ashwin that turned sharply to trap him plumb in-front. Shami brought an end with a typical inswinging delivery that breached through Gabriel's defence, bringing curtains down on a wonderful career.
