Wisden
First Test Match

INDIA v NEW ZEALAND 1955-56

Toss: India. Test debuts: India -A.G.Kripal Singh, V.N.Swamy.

This match, the first Test to be played between the two countries, produced exceptionally high scoring on a newly-laid turf pitch which played easily throughout. India lost two men for 48 after winning the toss, but Umrigar and Manjrekar, both scoring centuries, found runs easy to make. They added 238 for the third wicket, a record for Indian Test cricket, and Umrigar, batting nearly eight and a half hours, scored 223, until then the highest individual score for India. It beat V. Mankad's score of 184 at Lord's in 1952. Yet another record, beaten later in the series, was set up when the innings was declared at 498 for four, for this was the best Test score by India, exceeding 485 against England at Bombay in 1951-52. A third century came from the aggressive Kripal Singh, making his Test debut. He helped Umrigar to add 171 for the fourth wicket. Despite a stand of 83 for the third wicket by Guy and Reid, most of the New Zealand batsmen found the spin bowling of Gupte difficult in their first innings. Guy, the young left-hander, found another good partner in MacGibbon, who helped to add 87 for the sixth wicket. Guy batted over seven hours for his patient hundred. Although New Zealand followed on, another left-hander, Sutcliffe, saved them by batting throughout the final day and scoring the fifth hundred of the match.

© John Wisden & Co