WEST INDIES v INDIA 1952-53

At Georgetown, March 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17. Drawn. The weather played a big part in this match. There had been heavy rain before the match started and much time was lost during the game because of further downpours. Winning the toss, Hazare decided to bat, although the condition of the pitch was problematical. In fact, it did not present any undue difficulty to the batsmen, yet five men were out for 64, Ramchand and Manjrekar having been run out foolishly. Again, Hazare was the mainstay of the batting. He defended stubbornly while Mankad attacked and the pair improved matters for India with a sixth-wicket stand of 56. At one time on the second day it was stated that the umpires had decided that cricket would not take place, but the crowd became so impatient that the decision was reversed, and during the last hour Phadkar and Gadkari continued the improvement.

Both Ramadhin and Valentine bowled well for long spells, and when West Indies batted the Indian spin bowlers, Mankad and Gupte, waged a long and interesting duel with Worrell, Weekes and Walcott. The bowling was excellent, but Worrell and Weekes seemed thoroughly set when Mankad broke the stand, which yielded 130, by dismissing Worrell. Later, while Wight concentrated solely on defence--he added only 12 runs at one stage in two hours--Walcott proceeded to hit his first Test century on West Indian soil. He spent four hours twenty minutes over his 125, which included one 6, one 5 and fifteen 4's, and excepting Miller no one made any attempt to push the score along. Trying one big hit, Miller strained his back and could not bowl in India's second innings. Rain again interfered on the fifth day when eighty minutes was lost, and the tourists made slow progress while placing themselves in a safe position. Finally, a match which provided little excitement finished tamely when the weather reduced play to one hour on the last day.