Eleven-years-ago, on 29th June 2007, Indian legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar became the first batsman to reach 15,000 ODI runs. Still, he is the only man to achieve this feat.
It was the second ODI of three-match Future Cup ODI series between India and South Africa at Belfast (Ireland). After South Africa won the first ODI by 4 wickets (with 3 balls to spare), the next two remaining ODIs were the must-win games for India.
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In the second ODI, Indian captain Rahul Dravid decided to field first after winning the toss while Sachin needed to score exact 50 more runs to complete his 15,000 ODI runs.
Chasing down a target of 227 runs, Sachin came to bat at the opening slot with Sourav Ganguly. Both provided a great start which made easier to chase down that target. On the last ball of the 18th over, Tendulkar hit the Protease pacer Andre Nel to the cover and ran for a single to complete his half-century as well as the remarkable 15,000-ODI-run milestone. However, apart from that single, Tendulkar got four more runs as the reward from an overthrow.
#OnThisDay in 2007, @sachin_rt became the first, and so far only player to pass 15,000 ODI runs with 93 against South Africa in Belfast! pic.twitter.com/kaoH1yUmr2
— ICC (@ICC) June 29, 2018
Tendulkar stretched his innings but missed his 42nd ODI century for just seven runs as he was bowled by the Protease off-spinner Thandi Tshabalala on 93 runs off 106 balls. In his another impressive knock, Tendulkar hit 13 fours and two sixes. He had a 134-run opening partnership with Ganguly, which set the game for the team.
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However, four next quick wickets suddenly put them under pressure as India was on 142/4. Yuvraj Singh (49*) and Dinesh Karthik (32*) rescued the team to secure a comfortable six-wicket victory (5 balls to spare) after providing an impressive unbroken 85-run partnership for the fifth wicket. As a result, India chased down that target in 49.1 overs after losing four wickets (227/4).
Tendulkar won the Player of the Match award for his another outstanding knock that created another new milestone. That remarkable knock helped the Indian team to level the ODI series by 1-1 after the second game.
Earlier in that game, South Africa was restricted to 226/6 at the end of 50 overs. After a poor start, the opener Morne van Wyk (82) scored the highest runs in that innings while the middle-order batsmen JP Duminy (40) and Mark Boucher (55*) supported him at the crucial period of time.
