England 1 India 0
The batting of Duleepsinhji in the county championship was still to the fore in English cricket, perhaps promising great things from his countrymen when they toured England in 1932 and played the first Test match between the two countries. In the event, England won without much trouble, although they lost Percy Holmes, Herbert Sutcliffe and Frank Woolley for nine runs in the first 20 minutes. Douglas Jardine and Les Ames led a recovery to 259, but India were unable to consolidate their advantage and found the task of scoring 346 to win in the second innings too much.
| BATTING & FIELDING |
| |
M |
I |
NO |
Runs |
HS |
Ave |
100 |
50 |
0 |
Ct |
St |
| S Wazir Ali (Ind) |
1 |
2 |
0 |
70 |
39 |
35.00 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| DR Jardine (Eng) |
1 |
2 |
1 |
164 |
85* |
164.00 |
- |
2 |
- |
2 |
- |
| BOWLING |
| |
M |
O |
B |
Md |
R |
W |
Ave |
Best |
5 |
10 |
SR |
ER |
| Mahomed Nissar (Ind) |
1 |
44 |
264 |
8 |
135 |
6 |
22.50 |
5/93 |
1 |
- |
44.00 |
51.14 |
| WE Bowes (Eng) |
1 |
44 |
264 |
18 |
79 |
6 |
13.17 |
4/49 |
- |
- |
44.00 |
29.92 |
England 2 India 0 Draw 1
India’s chances of winning their first Test were dashed when their leading all-rounder Lala Amarnath was sent home for disciplinary reasons before the Lord's Test. England won two of the matches handsomely, but India had their moment of glory in the drawn second Test at Old Trafford. Facing a first-innings deficit of 368, India were given a great start by Vijay Merchant (114) and Mushtaq Ali (112), who shared a stand of 203. For England, Walter Hammond made 167 in a total of 571-8 declared.
| BATTING & FIELDING |
| |
M |
I |
NO |
Runs |
HS |
Ave |
100 |
50 |
0 |
Ct |
St |
| VM Merchant (Ind) |
3 |
6 |
0 |
282 |
114 |
47.00 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
- |
| WR Hammond (Eng) |
2 |
3 |
1 |
389 |
217 |
194.50 |
2 |
- |
- |
2 |
- |
| BOWLING |
| |
M |
O |
B |
Md |
R |
W |
Ave |
Best |
5 |
10 |
SR |
ER |
| Mahomed Nissar (Ind) |
3 |
84 |
504 |
15 |
343 |
12 |
28.58 |
5/120 |
1 |
- |
42.00 |
68.06 |
| GOB Allen (Eng) |
3 |
100 |
600 |
19 |
330 |
20 |
16.50 |
7/80 |
3 |
1 |
30.00 |
55.00 |
England 1 India 0 Draw 2
In the only completed match, England won at Lord’s, by 10 wickets, but later India only just escaped defeat at Old Trafford. The Oval Test was ruined by the weather. The series was notable for the introduction to Test cricket of Alec Bedser, who took 11 wickets in each of the first two matches. He claimed 7 for 49 and 4 for 96 at Lord's, where Joe Hardstaff hit a magnificent unbeaten 205 in a total of 428. At Old Trafford, India, facing England’s first innings of 294, began with an opening stand of 124 from Vijay Merchant and Mushtaq Ali, but were out for another 46.
They saved the game when their last pair, Sohoni and Hindlekar, stayed together for the last 13 minutes. Bedser’s figures were 4 for 41 and 7 for 52. Merchant scored 128 at The Oval, where India totaled 331, but England managed only 95 for 3 before the game was abandoned.
| BATTING & FIELDING |
| |
M |
I |
NO |
Runs |
HS |
Ave |
100 |
50 |
0 |
Ct |
St |
| VM Merchant (Ind) |
3 |
5 |
0 |
245 |
128 |
49.00 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
- |
| J Hardstaff jr (Eng) |
2 |
3 |
1 |
210 |
205* |
105.00 |
1 |
- |
1 |
- |
- |
| BOWLING |
| |
M |
O |
B |
Md |
R |
W |
Ave |
Best |
5 |
10 |
SR |
ER |
| L Amarnath (Ind) |
3 |
157 |
942 |
50 |
330 |
13 |
25.38 |
5/96 |
2 |
- |
72.46 |
35.03 |
| AV Bedser (Eng) |
3 |
144 |
866 |
33 |
298 |
24 |
12.42 |
7/49 |
2 |
2 |
36.08 |
34.41 |
England 3 India 0 Draw 1
After their promising performances in the previous series, India went to England minus Vijay Merchant and Vinoo Mankad. Only rain saved them from overwhelming defeats in all four games. The first match, at Headingley, was notable for the worst start to an innings in Test history. Facing arrears of 41, India lost their first four second-innings wickets without a run being scored and England won by seven wickets.
A magnificent all-round effort by Mankad made the Lord’s match memorable. He scored 72 and 184, and bowled 73 overs for figures of 5 for 196 in England’s first innings. Despite this, England won easily by eight wickets, Len Hutton making 150 of 537. Fred Trueman demoralized India at Old Trafford, taking 8 for 31 in a first innings total of 58. India did little better when they followed on, being out for 82, and so were dismissed twice in a day. Hutton made 104 in the England innings of 347 for 9 declared.
| BATTING & FIELDING |
| |
M |
I |
NO |
Runs |
HS |
Ave |
100 |
50 |
0 |
Ct |
St |
| VS Hazare (Ind) |
4 |
7 |
1 |
333 |
89 |
55.50 |
- |
3 |
- |
- |
- |
| L Hutton (Eng) |
4 |
6 |
1 |
399 |
150 |
79.80 |
2 |
1 |
- |
3 |
- |
| BOWLING |
| |
M |
O |
B |
Md |
R |
W |
Ave |
Best |
5 |
10 |
SR |
ER |
| Ghulam Ahmed (Ind) |
4 |
184 |
1110 |
57 |
371 |
15 |
24.73 |
5/100 |
1 |
- |
74.00 |
33.42 |
| FS Trueman (Eng) |
4 |
119 |
718 |
25 |
386 |
29 |
13.31 |
8/31 |
2 |
- |
24.76 |
53.76 |