Sachin Tendulkar: Little Master out for 74 in final Test for India

Sachin Tendulkar was dismissed for 74 in what is likely to be the final innings of his record-breaking career.

Tendulkar, 40, in his 200th and final Test match, seemed destined for his 101st international century as he resumed on 38 against West Indies.

However, there was stunned silence inside the Wankhede Stadium when he edged Narsingh Deonarine to first slip where Darren Sammy took a sharp catch.

The Windies ended day two on 43-3, 270 runs from making India bat again.

Thousands of supporters with painted faces and Indian flags queued outside the ground on Friday morning in the hope of witnessing Tendulkar's final innings, while millions more watched on television as many offices and schools closed for the Muslim festival Muharram.

In the morning papers in India, there were headlines such as "On 38, with a billion prayers" and "India waits for the big one" as the sense of anticipation grew.

And after surviving a strong caught-behind appeal off fast bowler Tino Best, Tendulkar brought up the 68th Test half-century of his career with an exquisite drive down the ground for four.

Tendulkar, who announced last month that this would be his final Test, continued to look in good touch at his home ground in Mumbai as he found the boundary with increasing regularity against a struggling bowling attack.

However, he fell 26 runs short of what would have been a fairytale century when he slashed hard outside off stump against spinner Deonarine, only to see Sammy produce an excellent catch.

It was a muted celebration from Windies skipper Sammy as Tendulkar made his way off the pitch to a standing ovation.

Already the highest runscorer in Test history, Tendulkar, who made his Test debut in November 1989, increased his career aggregate to 15,921, some 2,543 more than the next highest batsman, Australian Ricky Ponting, who retired from international cricket late last year.

It left India, who lead the two-match series 1-0, at 221-3 in reply to the visitors' first-innings total of 182 all out and centuries from Cheteshwar Pujara (113) and Rohit Sharma (111 not out) helped them to 495 all out.

The beleaguered Windies, who were beaten by an innings and 51 runs in the first match at Kolkata, lost three wickets in six overs in a dismal start to their second innings.

Match scorecard

We are using some archive pictures for this Test because several photo agencies have been barred from the ground following a dispute with the Board of Control for Cricket in India, while other agencies have withdrawn their photographers in protest.