October 11, 2010 12:07 PM

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India scores 224 for 2 at Lunch on Day 3; Sachin hits 49th Ton

Sachin Tendulkar continued to rewrite the record-books with his 49th Test century on a morning of Indian dominance in Bangalore. Tendulkar and M Vijay batted through the session with barely a worry against a rusty-looking Australian outfit, and the highlight was a standing ovation after Tendulkar brought up his hundred with a six.Given the ease with which he handled the Australian bowlers, it was fitting that Tendulkar achieved his goal by slog-sweeping Nathan Hauritz over wide long-on. His celebrations were nonchalant rather than demonstrative, which is perhaps not surprising given the frequency with he has raised his bat over the past year.Tendulkar and Vijay began the day on similar scores but the veteran powered ahead to bring up his hundred from his 157th delivery. At lunch, he was cruising on 106 and Vijay had 73, as the hosts moved on to 224 for 2 by adding 96 runs in the session.A day after he became the first man to post 14,000 Test runs, Tendulkar played with the kind of confidence that could not help but rub off on his team-mates. His day began with two boundaries down the leg side off Hauritz's opening deliveries, and things only got better for the leading run scorer in Test history.He pulled Mitchell Johnson for consecutive fours, sliced Shane Watson over cover with ease, and then moved to 99 with the first of his two sixes off Hauritz. Tendulkar scored so freely that his strike-rate for the session was nearing triple figures, but the Indians had also to thank Vijay for his patient efforts in their 186-run partnership.It was a terrible morning for Australia, who made all sorts of blunders and seemed resigned to a long day in the field. The most costly lapse came when Hauritz missed a run-out chance when Vijay, who was on 49, pushed to cover and took off looking for his half-century.

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