Tendulkar picks 53rd man of the match award

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Sachin Tendulkar turned back the time on Wednesday, storming to his 41st ODI century, off 76 balls, as India posted a 160-run victory over the West Indies in the fourth ODI of the series, in Vadodara.

The swashbuckling knock earned him his 53rd man of the match award. The last time he won the accolade was also against the West Indies, in the Malaysia tri-series on September 14, 2006.

The master blaster, who is increasingly transforming into an accumulator, showed he still has plenty of aggression left as he slammed 10 fours and a huge six during his unbeaten 100.

He stepped on the accelerator in the 38th over of the innings when he square cut Bradshaw; he then short-armed the bowler to long off, and flick-drove a third successive four in that direction. He put on 118 for the third wicket with skipper Rahul Dravid, who scored 78, to power India to a huge 341 for 3.

The 33-year-old, who holds the records for most one-day international runs and hundreds (41), rolled back the years to the mid and late 90s when he seemed to score runs at will and made collecting man of the match awards a formality.

Tendulkar, who pocketed 12 awards in 1998 itself, heads the list for most man of the match trophies in 378 matches. But the last two have taken some time coming. After bagging his 50th award in July 2004 (against Bangladesh), he had to wait more than two years before adding to his tally with a 141 not out in India's total of 309 for five against the West Indies at the Kinrara Oval.

The West Indies won that match by 29 runs by the Duckworth-Lewis method. Fortunately, Tendulkar's effort didn't go in vain on Wednesday, as India won the match by a handsome margin and with it the series 3-1.