India's Sachin Tendulkar scored 200 runs against South Africa today, becoming the first batsmen to reach that mark in a one-day international match.
For Tendulkar -- nicknamed "The Little Master" -- the achievement capped a return to the form that has made him the all-time leading run scorer in international cricket.
Although many batsmen have reached 200 runs in the longer form of cricket, played over several days with no set limit to the lengths of the innings, only a handful have ever accomplished the feat in a one day match, with all the previous cases occuring in matches below the international level.
A very rough analogy to the significance of Tendulkar's 200 would be hitting five home runs in a baseball game -- something which has been done at the high school and collegiate level, but never in Major Leagure Baseball.
Tendulkar's 200 came against one of the strongest teams in international cricket. South Africa are in third place in the current ICC one-day international rankings.
India made a remarkable 401 runs on the strength of Tendulkar's performance and went on to win the match after bowling out South Africa for 248 runs.