The Rest of the World skipper displayed his splendid batting display before a packed stadium by cutting loose on reaching his half-century against a formidable MCC attack as the Rest raced to 262 for four in just 43.3 overs after MCC posted a challenging 261 for four in 50 overs.

Tendulkar tore into Pakistan left-armer Aamir Sohail and Aussie paceman Glenn McGrath in his late spell to pile up a massive 177-run third wicket stand with de Silva, who struck his own patented shots while playing the ideal foil.

Tendulkar reached his first ever century at Lord's in only 94 balls and cracked 15 boundaries and four sixes in his 114-ball essay, which was ended by teammate and leg-spinner Anil Kumble with victory well in sight for the Restteam.

De Silva (82: 11x4, 1x6) followed suit but Graeme Hick (21 not out) and Tom Moody (7 not out) completed the domination by a formidable batting line-up, despite cheap early exits of Sanath Jayasuriya (8) and Saeed Anwar (14).

The MCC total, after Mike Atherton chose to bat first, revolved around a splendid unbeaten 127 (144b, 15x4) by West Indian Shivnaraine Chanderpaul and his retrieving 147-run third wicket stand with Indian skipper Mohd Azharuddin (61: 72b, 5x4, 1x6) after Atherton (28) and Aamir Sohail (12) had been dismissed cheaply.

Tendulkar was accorded a standing ovation after Kumble bowled him going for a heave and received the trophy named after WG Grace on his 150th birth anniversary.

Scoreboard

MCC XI: Michael Atherton c sub (Hamish Marshall) b Cairns 28, Aamir Sohail c A Flower b Akram 12, Shivnarine Chanderpaul not out 127, Mohd Azharuddin b Bishop 61, Saurav Ganguly c Bishop b Moody 14, Brian McMillan not out 7. Extras: (5lb, 5w, 2nb) 12. Total: (for four wickets in 50overs) 261

Fall of wickets: 1-29, 2-57, 3-204, 4-226

Did not bat: Ian Healy, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Allan Donald, Glenn McGrath.

Bowling: Akram 10-0-46-1, Bishop 10-0-63-1, Cairns 10-1-34-1, Ahmed 10-0-53-0, Moody 10-1-60-1

Rest of the World XI: Sanath Jayasuriya lbw b Srinath 8, Sachin Tendulkar b Kumble 125, Saeed Anwar c McGrath b Donald 14, Aravinda de Silva c & b McGrath 82, Graeme Hick not out 21, Tom Moody not out 2. Extras: (3lb, 3w, 4nb) 10. Total: (for four wickets in 43.3 overs) 262

Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-54, 3-231, 4-240

Did not bat: Andrew Flower, Wasim Akram, Chris Cairns, Ian Bishop, Mushtaq Ahmed.

Bowling: McGrath 10-0-50-1, Srinath 9-0-39-1, Donald 7-0-29-1, McMillan 4-0-27-0, Kumble 9.3-0-57-1, Sohail 2-0-37-0, Ganguly 2-0-20-0

Umpires: David Shepherd & Srinivas Venkataraghavan.

Result: Rest of the World won by six wickets