WC 2015: Why Sachin should thank South Africa for the win

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Sydney, March 18: He was in a mood to destroy and every Indian supporter was apprehensive about him eclipsing their cricketing hero Sachin Tendulkar.

But the devastating loss in the hands of the South Africans in the first quarterfinal at the SCG here on Wednesday meant that Kumar Sangakkara would fall short of equalling or bettering Tendulkar's record of scoring the most number of tons at the quadrennial event.

Sangakkara, who had come to this edition with just one World Cup hundred, slammed four back-to-back tons against Bangladesh, England, Australia and Scotland to take his tally to five, just one short of Tendulkar's six scored between 1996 and 2011 World Cup.

The cricketing world was expecting the 37-year-old left-handed batsman to equal Tendulkar's record or even better it in this edition, which also happened to be his last. But the Sri Lankan got out for 45 in the innings against South Africa, which also became his final in the World Cup since the islanders were knocked out after losing to a clinical South Africa by 9 wickets.

Oneindia News