5 incredible fourth innings centuries in a winning cause
'Cometh the hour cometh the man'. A man's character is tested when he is faced with a gargantuan task and the expectations of millions of supporters rests on his shoulder. Under such circumstances, the weak collapse under the mountain of pressure whereas the stronger men achieve the unthinkable and etch their names in the annals of history.
Test cricket has thrown up such heroes who have performed exceedingly well when the chips were down for their side. When the going got tougher, these tough men got going. Nothing is more satisfying for a test batsman than scoring a hundred in the final innings of a tense test match and carrying his side to victory in the process.
Here we look at five such knocks oozing with steel that managed to change the course of the match and hand their respective sides a victory to cherish, for ages to come.
Sachin Tendulkar 103*: India vs England – Chennai, 2008
In the wake of the horrific Mumbai terror attack, this test match at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai was played amidst heavy security. Things didn't quite go according to plan for Dhoni's men in the first few days with India getting bundled out for 241 in the first innings in response to England's 316.
England scored 311 in the second essay with Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood scoring hundreds and Team India were left to chase a gigantic 387 to win the test.
India got off to a flyer thanks to Virender Sehwag's cracking 85 that set the tone for the base. Gambhir too played his part well with a well made fifty. But it was the great man Sachin Tendulkar who saw India through to a magnificent win.
Tendulkar etched out crucial partnerships first with VVS Laxman and then with Yuvraj Singh and continued to attack the English spinners comprising of Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann.
Poms had an impressive pace attack as well with Steve Harmison, James Anderson and Andrew Flintoff in their ranks but Tendulkar played them with authority and struck 9 boundaries in his knock. Tendulkar struck the winning runs to complete his century and handed Team India one of the greatest test match wins ever.