#OTD in 1998: Sachin Tendulkar hit his 16th ODI century to help India claim third trophy in same year

On this day in 1998, Sachin Tendulkar scored his 16th hundred in the 50-overs format, which helped India beat Kenya by nine wickets and win the Coca-Cola Triangular Series at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. 

This was the third trophy for the Indian team in the same year. Ahead of this tournament, the Indian team had secured victories in the Silver Jubilee Independence Cup and Coco-Cola Cup.

In this Triangular series, Bangladesh were knocked out with only one win in four league matches. 

Kenya elected to bat first in a pursuit to post a good total and put pressure on the opposition. However, in eight overs, they were reeling at 23/4, with the best batter of the tournament, Ravi Shah, already making his way back to the pavilion with a terrific spell of bowling from Venkatesh Prasad and Ajit Agarkar, who took two each. 

A notable knock of Hitesh Modi (71), with the support from Kennedy Otieno (28) and Thomas Odoyo (21), paved the way for Kenya, posting 196 on the board. Prasad and Ajit Agarkar were the best bowlers, with four and three wickets. 

Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly provided a solid start to the Indian team in reply. Both the players stamped their authority by beautifully timing the ball. 

At the end of 10 overs, India were at 56/0. After the fielding restrictions eased, runs kept flowing, but Ganguly’s edge off Joseph Angara resulted in a chopped-on dismissal, and he made his way after scoring 36 off 45 balls. However, Tendulkar showed calm and composure from the other end and completed his fifty in the 19th over by punishing the bad balls for a boundary. 

His partner on the other end, Ajay Jadeja, was also impressive in steering the team at a pleasing rate. On the last ball of the 34th over, Tendulkar hit a stylish cover-drive to bring his 16th century in the ODI format. In his innings of 100* off 103 balls, the 'Master Blaster' hit 13 boundaries and zilch maximums. 

Jadeja contributed 50 off 65 balls and scored the winning shot to seal the fourth trophy for the Indian team in 1998. 

After a couple of months, India claimed another trophy in the form of the Nidahas Trophy, with Sri Lanka and New Zealand as the competitors. 

It was a terrific year for Tendulkar, as he etched his name on the record books for slamming a total of 12 hundreds in a calendar year, which is an unbroken record to date.