If the seamer was nonplussed by this offering, he must have been startled by the batsman's next creation as a good length delivery was blasted past him off the back foot. Few men have been able to play the straight pull. The Indian also took delight in guiding lifters over the slips, the shot that kept the score rattling along in Sydney. Nor is he content merely to elude the catchers. Depending on the field, he places the ball wide or fine. At one stage at the Gabba, Ricky Ponting sent two colleagues to patrol the third-man boundary whereupon the batsman sent the ball between them. It is difficult enough to find the gaps with orthodox strokes. Tendulkar is also adept at developing singles off accurate deliveries. Either he stuns the ball towards gully and scampers or he steers the ball behind point with a stroke reminiscent of a monarch knighting a favoured admiral. Accordingly he does not allow pressure to build. After a bright start, Tendulkar pushed the score along steadily, biding his time and allowing fresher partners to take risks. Throughout a contentious trip these tourists played with tenacity and audacity. It has been a colossal struggle between an ageing champion and a bold challenger.
Apart from the frenzied finish and the curious outbreak of tackles on the field, the abiding memory of the match came from Tendulkar's bat. The first final, in Sydney, had produced one of the game's finest chasing innings. Accordingly, reporters hoped for a second helping from the maestro. Happily he obliged with a superb effort in the second final. Magnificent in Sydney, Tendulkar produced another well paced innings. Tendulkar looked comfortable from the first ball. At such times his bat appears as wide as the Suez Canal. The straight drive is the cornerstone of his batting and he plays it perfectly. To this solid foundation he adds fertile strokes square of the wicket and improvisations executed with imagination and dexterity. But the drive past the bowler tells the tale. It is an immaculate stroke unfurled without any hint of flamboyance. Spectators find in it the same satisfaction as a mathematician does in a formula. Tendulkar does not indulge himself at the crease. His style is not a style at all, merely his way of scoring runs. Even the apparently cheeky upper cut and the reverse sweep aired yesterday take into account score and field. He calculates and then commits. Not that every straight drive is the same. Normally the ball is punched past the bowler with an abbreviated swing. Facing Stuart Clark, he adjusted his stroke, rolled his writs at impact and still managed to send the ball speeding past deep mid-on.
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