England have hope of victory over India in first Test after Ollie Pope hundred | Cricket News
Ollie Pope scored a defiant century to revive England and give the tourists hope of victory over India after day three of the first Test.
The vice-captain – whose top-score on the 2021 tour of India was 34 in eight knocks – struck 148 not out from 208 balls, sharing a sixth-wicket stand of 112 with Surrey team-mate Ben Foakes (34) as England recovered from 163-5 to close on 316-6 with a lead of 126.
Pope and Foakes bounced back from disappointing first innings – Pope falling for a skittish one from 11 balls, Foakes for a sluggish four from 24 – after they joined forces with England 29 runs behind following Ravichandran Ashwin’s dismissal of Ben Stokes (6).
Pope, dropped on 110 by Axar Patel at backward square, swept and reverse swept his way to a strike-rate of 71.15, showing intent against India’s high-class spinners as he notched his fifth Test century, and surely his best, and belief has now risen that what seemed like an inevitable defeat could turn into a famous win.
England’s problem when they come to bowl could be their spinners, with Jack Leach nursing a knee issue and Tom Hartley and Rehan Ahmed – the former making his Test debut, the latter in just his second game – struggling in India’s first-innings 436 all out.
Joe Root (4-79) was the pick of England’s spinners first time around and struck twice in as many balls on Saturday morning – pinning India top-scorer Ravindra Jadeja lbw for 87, then bowling Jasprit Bumrah for a golden duck – as the hosts lost their final three wickets for no runs to be bowled out with a lead of 190.
India had then looked on course for victory inside three days, perhaps even by an innings, after Bumrah dismissed Ben Duckett (47) and Root (2) with devilish in-swingers and Jonny Bairstow (10) and Stokes fell to spin, with England losing 4-50 from 113-1.
But the game is fascinatingly poised now as India face the pressure of a three-digit fourth-innings chase.
More to follow.
