SACHIN,as good as ever!!!!

India win a boundary-filled match and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. A serene Sachin Tendulkar played a perfectly-paced innings to score his first ODI century in New Zealand while Yuvraj Singh demolished the attack in a violent knock to power India to 392 for 4.

It wasn’t a day of total mayhem, though. As soon as Virender Sehwag fell, the ground suddenly looked bigger and the Kiwi bowlers grew in size too. But none of the pygmies had really noticed the giant among them: Sachin Tendulkar. The little master-blaster (163 retired hurt; 133 balls, 16x4, 5x6) flexed his delicate and powerful muscles and magic flowed out of his bat again.

While Yuvraj dazzled with glamourous shots, Tendulkar inspired awe with his innovations. He played numerous paddle sweeps, scooped Southee over fine leg for a stunning six, lofted drives inside out over cover and opened the bat-face to deftly steer the ball to the boundary. Unlike Sehwag, who was bowled while trying to pull a delivery that was not short enough, Tendulkar did not let the temptation of the short square boundaries influence his batting early in his stay. He remained busy throughout his innings, using his wristy flick to turn short-of-length deliveries cutting into middle and off stump to the leg side for many singles.

Saaed Anwar's record score was under threat but Tendulkar retired hurt in the 45th over after pulling a stomach muscle. He said he was hopeful of getting a double-century towards the end of India's innings, while Brendon McCullum, New Zealand's stand-in captain, said only when Tendulkar walked off did it seem out of reach.

So just how did Tendulkar set himself into a position to aim at the first ODI double-century before he had to retire hurt after 45 overs? Well, he shifted gears seamlessly, not letting the bowlers get an inkling of what was coming next. The innovations met the orthodox in a perfect cocktail. The straight hits, the dabs, the paddle sweeps, all hurt New Zealand. There was nothing, after close to 20 years of batting, that the bowling side wouldn't have been prepared for. But all through the day, New Zealand were one step behind Tendulkar.Tendulkar needed just 32 deliveries to move from 100 to 163.

A last word on the quality of the knock should go the captain who was at the receiving end. "I can hardly remember a shot that didn't come out of the middle," McCullum said. "There were times as well that he played with half a blade and hit in areas that he precisely wanted to. I don't think I have seen too many better innings, in any form of the game."

New Zealand is the place where we first saw Tendulkar open the innings, as a raw, crazy diamond. Today the fans lapped up a calculating genius at play, which was just as satisfying.