Tendulkar and Bangar feast on Zimbabwean attack

Nagpur, India, February 24: Sachin Tendulkar and Sanjay Bangar flayed the Zimbabwean attack with a record 171-run stand for the sixth wicket to put India in a winning position in the first Test here on Sunday.

Bangar smashed an unbeaten 100 for his maiden Test century and Tendulkar a superb 176 as India posted 570-7 declared in reply to Zimbabwe's 287.

The tourists, trailing by 283 runs, were 20 for no loss at lunch on the fourth day, with skipper Stuart Carlisle batting on 19 and Trevor Gripper yet to open his account.

The Tendulkar-Bangar stand was India's highest for the sixth wicket against Zimbabwe in eight Tests, surpassing the previous best of 96 between Kapil Dev and Sanajay Manjrekar at Harare in 1992-93.

India, who batted extremely slowly to score just 228 on Friday, changed their approach as both Tendulkar and Bangar exploded with a flurry of boundaries against the Zimbabwean seamers and spinners.

Bangar, 29, playing his second Test, hit two sixes and 12 fours in his 155-ball knock and Tendulkar 23 boundaries in his 316-ball innings as India plundered 133 runs in 20.5 overs after resuming at 437-5.

Zimbabwe struggled for wickets for the second successive day despite taking the third new ball early in the morning as Tendulkar and Bangar kept playing their shots to put their team in a strong position.

Tendulkar, 137 overnight, reached his 150 with a flicked boundary off seamer Heath Streak and then hit two more in the same over.

Bangar, who made his Test debut against England at Mohali in December, punished left-arm spinner Raymond Price as he lofted the bowler over extra cover for a four and then over long-on for a six in the same over.

India declared their first innings closed immediately after Bangar, 22 overnight, reached his hundred with a brace off seamer Brighton Watambwa.

Price finished with 5-182 off 68 overs, his second five-wicket haul in seven Tests. Streak and Watambwa each took one wicket.