 Johnston practised his pace bowling with new vigour , and at the start of the 1947 – 48 season , the fruits of his labour provided immediate dividends . In the opening match of the season , he delivered an opening burst of 3 / 0 for Victoria against the touring Indian team , removing Vinoo Mankad , <unk> <unk> and leading batsman Vijay Hazare , all for ducks . He took three more wickets in the second innings , to end with a match total of 6 / 96 , including Hazare for the second time . Johnston was then called into an Australian XI that played the Indians before the Tests , in what was effectively a dress rehearsal . Although the hosts lost , Johnston took 6 / 141 , all of his victims being frontline batsmen . In the last outing before the Tests , Johnston took 3 / 40 and 5 / 37 to set up a nine @-@ wicket win over New South Wales , including the wickets of Test openers Sid Barnes and Arthur Morris with the new ball at the start of the match . 
