FIRST TEST AT DELHI

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29077, 14 December 1959, Page 18

FIRST TEST AT DELHI

India Dismissed For 135 Press Association— CopvrlgM) NEW DELHI, December 12. Australia’s bowlers put India m a difficult position on the first day of the first test at Delhi today and at stumps Australia, with all wickets in hand, were only 113 runs behind India’s total of 133. C. C. McDonald and L, Favell, in the fading light, faced some accurate fast-medium bowling from Desai and medium-paced swingers by Surendra Nath. Surendra Nath bowled one very good over to McDonald which had him in trouble. Both batsmen had to survive close leg before appeals before stumps. The Indian batsmen failed on a wicket designed to help scoring. Davidson, Meckiff, and Rorke, who together wrecked the start of the Indian innings, took wickets by intelligent bowling. Their main weapon early was a lifting ball which they were able to run away to slips. When Rorke came on he exploited sheer speed, and took his first Wicket with a yorker under Baig’s bat. The same speedy ball, pitched just a little shorter, bowled Nadkarni off the edge of his bat. But for Contractor’s innings of 41 and four missed catches by the close fieldsmen, India’s total would have been much smaller. The Indian Prime Minister (Mr Nehru) came to watch the cricket for about half an hour before tea. Not. long after he left India’s wickets started to fall, to Benaud. Benaud’s spell of three overs and four balls, for three wickets and no runs, soon wiped out the Indian tail, yet he seepied to be turnisg the ball very little on the hand-rolled and grassless wicket. His “flipper" bowled Joshi, but the other batsmen seemed mesmerised by the idea of spin. INDIA _ _ First Innings P. Roy, c Grout, b Davidson .. 0 N. J. Contractor, b Davidson .. 41 P. Umrigar, c Grout, b Davidson 0 A. A. Baig, b Rorke .. ..9 C. G. Borde, c Grout, b Meckiff 14 G- S. Ramchand, c Grout, b Kline 20 R. G Nadkarni b Rorke 1 P. G. Joshi, b Benaud .. ..15 Surendra Nath, not out .. ..'24 V. M. Muddiah, lbw, b Benaud 0 R. Desai, c O'Neill, b Benaud 0 Extras (2 leg byes, 6 byes, 3 no-balls) .. .. ~11 Total • jag Fall of wickets: One for 4, two for 8, three for 32, four for 66. five for 69, six for 70, seven for 100, eight for 131, nine for 135.

Bowling O. M. R. W. A. K. Davidson 18 10 30 3 I. Mecklff .. 13 3 44 1 G. Rorke .. 14 5 30 2 L. Kline .. 9 3 15 1 R. Benaud .. 3.4 3 0 3 K. Mackay .. 1 0 1 0 N. O’Neill .. 1 0 4 0 AUSTRALIA „ .. First Innings C. McDonald, not out 9 L. Favell, not out • 13 Total without loss 22 Bowling _ , O. M. Desai 4 Q Surendra Nath . 4 2 R. 15 7 W. 0 0