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Sachin equals Sunny, slams 81st first-class ton

Adding another feather to his crowded cap, Sachin Tendulkar on Friday equalled Sunil Gavaskar’s record of most first-class hundreds by cracking a superb unbeaten century against Rest of India on day three of Irani Cup. Coming into the match one short of Gavaskar in the Indian record list of 81 first-class hundreds, Tendulkar struck his 30th domestic hundred to add to the 51 Test tons, which are also taken into account in the first-class count.

Friday’s unbeaten 140 was the 18th for his home state Mumbai at Wankhede Stadium where the hosts declared at 409 in reply to Rest of India’s 526 all out in the first innings.

Gavaskar had notched up 81 first-class hundreds between 1971 and 1997, including 34 in 125 Tests for India. In the course of his superb tuning up innings for the upcoming four-Test series against Australia, the 39-year-old Tendulkar also crossed another milestone, 25,000 runs in first class cricket. Tendulkar, who has 51 Test hundreds in 194 games, needed 104 when he went out to bat in his 479th innings in first class cricket for reaching the second landmark.

Tendulkar played some breathtaking shots, especially in the arc between long off and cover, to bring up his new landmark in his 303rd first class game.
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