The match at Lord's set the pattern for the rest of the tour as South Africa's limited bowling and inconsistent batting were exposed by England's weight of runs from Compton and Edrich and the home side's greater bowling variety and experience. Melville made 17 and 59 in the third Test, played at Manchester, which was also lost. The Leeds Test brought him scores of 0 and 30 in two weak South African batting performances, and a third Test defeat in succession. The fifth Test, played in what "Wisden" called "extreme heat", ended in a tense draw with the South Africans, seeking 451 for what would have been a record-breaking win, finishing at 423 for seven wickets: Melville dropped down the batting order in this game and scored 39 and 6. In the five Tests, Melville had scored 569 runs at an average of 63.22; this put him third in the batting averages behind Nourse and Mitchell, but the three of them all scored more than double the number of runs of any other South African batsman.