Tendulkar's 49th ton makes him first Indian to score six centuries in a calendar year

Bangalore, Oct 11(ANI): Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar raced to his 49th Test century on the third day of the Bangalore Test against Australia on Monday, making him the first Indian to score six centuries in a calendar year.

Tendulkar, who missed a century by two runs in the first Test in Mohali, was in no mood to play safe this time around as he raced from 93 to 105 with two sixes against off-spinner Nathan Hauritz.

Both the shots were played over wide long-on in front of a packed M. Chinnaswamy stadium.

He now has two centuries in Bangalore, sharing the record for most centuries with Sunil Gavaskar and Mohammad Azharuddin.

With the century, the 37-year-old also became the first Indian to score six centuries in a calendar year.

During the innings, Tendulkar had also achieved the milestone of becoming the first batsman to score 14,000 runs in Test cricket.

Meanwhile, along with Murali Vijay, Tendulkar has consolidated India's position in the Test match by taking the score to 224-2 at lunch.

Tendulkar (106 not out) and Vijay (73 not out) scored 96 runs in the session.

Both the batsmen played showing class and managed to extend their third-wicket partnership to 186 runs in 51 overs.

Team India still trails by 254 runs with eight wickets in hand.

Earlier, Harbhajan Singh (4-148) and Pragyan Ojha (3-120) had restricted Australia to 478 in their first innings.

India leads the two match Test series 1-0, after winning the first match played at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali by one wicket. (ANI)