The first-ever 200 in a Men’s ODI

Women’s cricket had seen a double hundred in ODI cricket 13 years before a male cricketer got to the milestone. Belinda Clark had slammed 229* against Denmark in the 1997 Women’s World Cup in Mumbai.

However, the fans had to wait till 2010 for a male cricketer to make a double ton in ODIs and it was poetic justice that the first to do it was India’s Sachin Tendulkar, considered to be the greatest modern-day limited-overs batsman.

The occasion was the second ODI between India and South Africa, which was played in Gwalior on Feb 24, 2010.

India batted first on a batting beauty and though Sehwag fell early for 9 runs, Sachin Tendulkar continued battering the Proteas bowlers which consisted of Dale Steyn, Wayne Parnell, Charl Langeveldt, Jacques Kallis and JP Duminy. Tendulkar got support from Dinesh Karthik (79 from 85 balls) and MS Dhoni (68* from 35 balls).

But it was Tendulkar, who hit 25 fours and 3 sixes en route to hitting Langeveldt to the point fielder to complete a historical single, which took him to the magical score of 200, which came in 147 balls.

It was an amazing feel-good moment for fans who saw one of the popular batsmen ever get to a milestone which had been previously unconquered and no one can take it away from him, that Sachin Tendulkar was the first male batsman to hit 200 in an ODI.