 "India vs England: Ollie Pope's unbeaten 148 helps visitors fight back on Day three of first Test")
Ollie Pope scored a brilliant century as England gained a crucial 126-run lead on Day three of the first Test against India in Hyderabad on Saturday. At stumps on Saturday, England were 316/6, with Ollie Pope (148) and Rehan Ahmed (16*) having built an unbeaten 41-run stand. India had resumed from their overnight score of 421/7 on Day three, but spinners Joe Root and Rehan Ahmed picked wickets to dismiss the hosts for 436. That meant India went into England’s second innings with a lead of 190. Jadeja could not bring up a much-anticipated fourth Test hundred, falling leg before to Root. The left-hander went to front foot to defend a length delivery on off-stump, and the ball took a good amount of turn to hit his pads. Umpire Chris Gaffaney raised his finger as Jadeja opted to review the call. The ball seemed to have taken a deflection off his bat but the replays remained inconclusive and the third umpire went with the on-field umpire’s decision to give the batter out leg before. In the very next ball, Root castled Bumrah and Ahmed cleaned up Axar as Indian innings came to a quick end, losing their last three wickets without adding any runs. In their second innings, England lost Zak Crawley (31) who was caught by Rohit Sharma at slip off Ashwin’s delivery, but Ollie Pope and Ben Duckett forged a 68-run stand for the second wicket. Duckett was dismissed for 47 by Jasprit Bumrah in the 19th over, but could have been out in the 17th over for 39 had India taken a DRS for an LBW appeal. In the 17th over, Bumrah had seemingly dismissed Duckett LBW. Duckett got hit on the back pad following a length ball from Bumrah and after a discussion with Rohit Sharma, who himself had a chat with KS Bharat, the hosts decided to not opt for the review. However, the review would have done wonders since Hawkeye showed that the impact was in line and hitting the leg stump. Ollie Pope, though, showcased resilience with his patient knock, reaching his century in 154 balls. England lost their fifth wicket at 163/5 when Ben Stokes was dismissed for six, but Pope and Ben Foakes were involved in a 112-run stand for the sixth wicket, to help England take a 100-plus lead.
Giving English 🏴 fans a ray of hope, 😍
— JioHotstar Reality (@HotstarReality) January 27, 2024
Well made 💯 from Ollie Pope!👌💪#JioCinemaSports #BazBowled #IDFCFirstBankTestSeries #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/aCIdUoJMg2
Ollie Pope took on spinners valiantly. Pope collected a boundary off Axar Patel’s delivery in the 13th over, before beating Ravichandran Ashwin for a couple of boundaries in the 18th over. Pope, however, could have been dismissed for 110 had Axar Patel not dropped a catch off R Ashwin’s ball after he misjudged a reverse sweep. Apart from Pope, England’s middle-order, however, failed to make much of an impact. Joe Root fell to an LBW trap to Jasprit Bumrah (2) whereas Jonny Bairstow (10) was cleaned up by Ravindra Jadeja. Ben Stokes (6) then tried to build a substantial partnership with Pope, but it wasn’t long until the England skipper was cleaned up by R Ashwin. To dismiss Bairstow, Jadeja delivered a brilliant ball. It was a fuller length ball on middle from Jadeja and Bairstow decided to leave the ball on this occasion as the ball dislodged the off-stump.
Jaddu-gar 🪄
— JioHotstar Reality (@HotstarReality) January 27, 2024
Bairstow is deceived 😵💫 by Jadeja's magical delivery! 😍#JioCinemaSports #BazBowled #IDFCFirstBankTestSeries #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/O4BrpPKeRn
England were 163/5 when Stokes departed, but Ben Foakes and Pope then forged a 100-run stand to take England to a fighting position. Foakes was cautious against the Indian spinners in his 34-run knock, so much so that only two boundaries came off his bat. However, it was Pope afterall who led England by example. With inputs from PTI
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