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Scotland v India 22 & 23 May 1946
by Cricket Scotland


Ground:Myreside, Edinburgh
Scorecard:Scotland v Indians
Event:India in British Isles 1946

DateLine: 2nd February 2013

 

Scotsman

 

Day 1:
A century by V. S. Hazare, his first on the tour, gave the big crowd at Myreside a satisfying glimpse of the quality of the Indians' batsmanship in the opening day of their match with Scotland.

 

Correct rather than aggressive, Hazare faced the Scottish bowling for 5 hours and 25 minutes, in the course of which he gave only one chance, just before he had reached his half-century. His effort came at a time when his side needed it, for during the first hour, the only period when the Scots bowlers were getting any help from the wicket, the tourists lost such valuable players as V. M. Merchant and R.S. Modi, both of whom left with the total at only 23.

 

Mushtaq Ali, perhaps the most attractive batsman of the lot, was shaping well when he mistimed an in-swinger from R.S. Hodge, the Fifeshire bowler, and was held on the leg side at 51. From that point the Indian batsmen revealed a note of caution in their tactics, and some of the crowd .were sighing for a glimpse of the celebrated big hitting for which the tourists are noted. It never came, although Hazare contrived to find the boundary on twelve occasions, his efforts being noted for fluency on the leg side. He was out to a very fine catch low down in the slips by Hodge, who had not met with very much luck in his bowling. C.T. Sarwate stayed with Hazare long enough to establish the biggest partnership of the day, the pair putting on 95 for the seventh wicket.

 

By that time the Scottish bowlers might have been excused for showing signs of strain, but they stuck to their task well, and supported by fielding that was reasonably good, any mistakes there were had occurred earlier in the Indians' innings, they got the tourists out just before seven o'clock.

 

Merchant who was captaining the tourists in the absence of the Nawab of Pataudi, who was content to be a spectator on account of rheumatism, may have wanted to let Hazare get the chance of his century, but the prolongation of his innings indicated that he regarded his spin bowlers equal to the task of getting Scotland out twice today. Scotland might get a. draw if their batting proves as good as their bowling.

 

R.O. McKenna (Kelburne), who had two wickets before lunch for 9 runs, and five maidens in ten overs, returned a very good analysis in all the circumstances. He "pegged down" the Indian batsmen for considerable periods, though the hardest worked member of his team's attack. He varied his pace nicely and maintained a fine length, and finished with the capital analysis, for this class of cricket of six wickets for 92 runs. His club-mate V. Nichol, also did well with his left-hand slow deliveries.

 

Day 2:
A dramatic half-hour after the tea interval, in which C. S. Sarwate, the Indian spin bowler, performed a "hat-trick," ended in Scotland being defeated by India by an innings and 56 runs at Myreside, Edinburgh, last evening.

 

Sarwate, one of the heroes of the record-breaking last wicket stand against Surrey, cancelled any hopes that struggling Scotland may have had of staying long enough to force the tourists to bat a second time. With the first three balls of the third over he sent down after tea, he clean bowled Marshall, Clark, and Hodge to bring about an unexpectedly quick finish.

 

Some people who hoped to see the last hour of play arrived to find the stumps drawn.

 

Employing a mixture of leg breaks, off spinners, and the occasional straight one, Sarwate was by a long way the most disconcerting of the half-dozen bowlers called upon by Merchant. Just how cleverly he could make the ball turn was exemplified in the Scottish second innings when Dewar was bowled before he had lifted his bat. Various other members of the Scots team testified to his skill, but the best proof of that was revealed by his total " bag " over the match of twelve wickets for 72 runs.

 

Incidentally, this was the second time on the tour that an Indian had got a "hat trick," C. S. Nayudu, who was used only for a brief spell yesterday, leading the way with a similar performance against Surrey some weeks ago.

 

Probably such a feat against Surrey will rank higher than that against Scotland, but the truth was that our batting never inspired a great deal of confidence, though one of the encouraging lessons of the match, which was watched by 3000 people on the first day and almost as many yesterday, was the calm and collected display of Aitchison. His beautiful square-cutting, and straight driving delighted everyone. At the wicket for 100 minutes in the first innings, he hit a 6 (the only one of the match) off V. S. Hazare, as well as four 4s. He was shaping well in the second venture when he went forward to a quick-rising ball from Harare and lost his wicket, and when he left, fifth, with the total at 66, Scottish hopes, never very bright, started to fade.

 

Mortimer, Heggie, and Nichol tried gallantly to stem the tide, they scored a few runs off Sarwate, but there was no wag about the tail, even though under the circumstances Clark, the captain, had carefully considered his batting order.

 

The closing stages of the match, which the Scottish Cricket Union were well justified in bringing to Edinburgh, were watched by the Lord and Lady Provost, who sat with the Nawab of Pataudi and Mr W. Anderson, president of the Union.

(Article: Copyright © 2013 Cricket Scotland http://cricketscotland.com)

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