on this day
1933
Lala Amarnath scored the first Test century for India, on debut against England in the first Test in Bombay. Victory for England by nine wickets was the result soon after lunch on the fourth day, but an Indian legend was born. India were precariously placed at 21 for 2 in the second innings when Amarnath raced to his hundred in 117 minutes. He hit 21 fours in his 118, and added 186 with CK Nayudu - the largest partnership of the match. Amarnath later said the hundred was his best, and he received gold and silver cups and money for his efforts. When he brought up the landmark, pandemonium broke loose: the applause was long and loud and hats were thrown in the air. Two spectators even ran on to the pitch to garland him, much to the annoyance of Nayudu, who tried to shoo them off, forgetting the ball was in play. The wicketkeeper Harry Elliott saw the chance to run him out but Douglas Jardine signalled him not to.
1946
At the SCG, Sid Barnes and Don Bradman established a new fifth-wicket Test partnership record of 405. The two each hit 234 against England. It was also a fifth-wicket world record for first-class cricket, and at the time there was only one bigger in Test cricket, 451 by Bradman and Bill Ponsford for the second wicket at Kennington Oval in 1934. Wisden reported that brilliant sunshine on Sunday transformed the pitch, which rolled out perfectly on Monday when cricket took place in glorious weather. The biggest crowd of the match, 51,459, saw Barnes bat all day.
