Though Sehwag began the chase with two boundaries off pacer Pedro Collins off the very first two balls he faced, Tendulkar waited five balls for his first boundary
Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag during their 83-run stand at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday. Pic/ Suresh Karkera
After six years, three months and 20 days, batting icon Sachin Tendulkar returned to his home turf—the Wankhede Stadium pitch—and he didn't disappoint his fans who had filled the iconic venue on Saturday.
Chasing the West Indies Legends's 150-8, Tendulkar (36 off 29, 7x4) and fellow opener Virender Sehwag (74 not out, 11x4) gave the hosts a fine 83-run opening stand to eventually help them beat the visitors by seven wickets in the opening fixture of the Road Safety World Series T20 tournament.
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Though Sehwag began the chase with two boundaries off pacer Pedro Collins off the very first two balls he faced, Tendulkar waited five balls for his first boundary. However, the India Legends captain made up for that slight delay, hitting two fours off Collins's next over—one a cracking square cut and the second a classy glance. Tendulkar was dropped on 11 when Carl Hooper put him down at first slip off Tino Best's second over. Left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn's introduction into the attack in fourth over saw Tendulkar open up a bit more—he hit three consecutive fours between the covers and point region as the Indians took 13 runs off the over. Inevitably, the famous "Saa-chin, Saa-chin" chants reverberated the jam-packed Wankhede.
Later, Sehwag, who got his 50 off 47 balls and contributions from Mohammed Kaif (14) and Yuvraj Singh (10 not out) saw the hosts emerge victors in the 19th over.
Earlier, after being put in, WI opener Shivnarine Chanderpaul (61 off 41 balls, 6x4, 2x6) anchored the WI innings after skipper Brian Lara's (17, 4x4) stay was cut short to just 15 balls. He was out stumped by Sameer Dighe off left-arm pacer Irfan Pathan (1-21). Pacers Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha claimed two wickets each.
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