It was only a matter of time. Sachin Tendulkar has not failed to score a century in a full series since 1997, and his 185 not out at Headingley was a suitably emphatic knock with which to overtake Don Bradman's tally of 29 Test hundreds. As our graph shows, the bulk of Tendulkar's first 100 runs came in the arcs between third man and extra cover (51), and fine leg and deep midwicket (33). Only four runs came straight down the ground - a rank half-volley from Andy Caddick - and just 13 any finer than behind square. Four of these, in fact, were Tendulkar's very first runs of the innings; a streaky edge that flew through the slips off Andrew Flintoff.

It wasn't often that Tendulkar was troubled, however. England resolutely plonked the ball outside off stump on 109 occasions, with just Flintoff's bouncers and Ashley Giles straying onto leg. But once again, they erred on the short side, with just one full-length delivery, from Alex Tudor. As a result, Tendulkar was able to leave well alone 50 of the 171 deliveries he needed to reach his century, and found the middle of the bat with a further 79. He was in control of 80% of his deliveries, and India were in control of 100% of the match.

Andrew Miller is editorial assistant of Wisden.com.

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