Video: Sachin's First IPL 100 Vs Kochi

Two weeks after the "proudest moment" of his career at the Wankhede Stadium, Sachin Tendulkar checked off another item on his ever-shrinking to-do list with his first century in Twenty20s. It wasn't the prettiest of his innings but he combined power and placement in a knock that propelled Mumbai Indians to 182 for 2 against Kochi Tuskers Kerala. Worryingly for the rest of the teams in the tournament, Mumbai didn't even need the awesome hitting-ability of Rohit Sharma, Andrew Symonds and Kieron Pollard to run up such a tall total.

Though Tendulkar dispatched his second delivery for four with a crowd-pleasing straight drive, it was a nervy beginning from him. He was nearly run out on 0, umpire Paul Reiffel turned down two lbw appeals from Vinay Kumar which should have been given. There was also a close call for caught behind, and an outside edge off Thisara Perera just beat the keeper.

It was Tendulkar who made most of the early runs on a track that was affording some movement for the new ball bowlers, though it is Davy Jacobs' brief to provide Mumbai blazing starts. There were no massive overs early on, and with Jacobs struggling to find the boundary, Mumbai made relatively sedate progress, reaching 57 in eight overs before Jacobs was bowled.

That brought together the pair of Tendulkar and Ambati Rayudu, which was so effective in neutralising Royal Challengers Bangalore in their previous match. Rayudu immediately took charge, blasting two sixes off a Raiphi Gomez over. He muscled two straight boundaries off Ravindra Jadeja in the 14th over, and followed that with a six and a four to long-on off Ramesh Powar in the next. Rayudu's share in the 64 runs the pair added till then was 44.

The final five overs turned into a Tendulkar show as he plundered 45 runs. In the 16th, when Vinay slung several Lasith Malinga-style side-arm deliveries, Tendulkar showcased how he could finesse the ball or force it as required: a short ball on leg stump was helped over fine leg for six, and a length ball outside off was pummelled over long-on for six more, as 20 came off the over.

After Vinay imitated one of the world's best bowlers, it was Tendulkar's turn to imitate one of the world's best finishers, as he pulled out the helicopter shot made famous by MS Dhoni. That shot and a slugged six over midwicket took Tendulkar to 90 at the end of the the 19th over.

Tendulkar may have missed a much-anticipated century in front of his home crowd earlier this month, but he wasn't going to miss out this time. Rayudu took a single off the first ball, leaving Tendulkar five to get to the landmark. The third ball was a slow bouncer from Vinay, which Tendulkar couldn't reach but he moved to 94 by paddling the next ball past short fine. Rayudu was run out next ball attempting a non-existent second, and Tendulkar moved to 99 by bludgeoning the ball past long-on. The man with the most centuries in Test and one-dayers got to his maiden Twenty20 hundred by pushing the final ball of the innings to cover.

The decibel levels shot up in the Wankhede as the crowd lapped up another memorable effort from their favourite, but it was a muted celebration from Tendulkar himself. He continued running towards the dug-out, and raised his bat to acknowledge the applause only as an afterthought. The helmet wasn't removed, nor was there the emphatic both-arms-in-the-air gesture with which he usually savours reaching triple-figures.