HYDERABAD: Ollie Pope led England’s fightback with an unbeaten 148 and powered the visitors to a notable 126-run lead over India on Day 3 of the ongoing first Test.
England were 316/6 at stumps on the third day with Pope and Rehan Ahmed on the crease.
Coming out to bat at number three with the scoreboard reading 45/1 after Zak Crawley fell for a 33-ball 31, Pope put together an anchoring partnership with Ben Duckett.
The duo added 68 runs for the second wicket before Ducett fell agonizingly short of his well-deserved half-century. He was cleaned up by Jasprit Bumrah on 47.
England then suffered another blow to their batting charge when Joe Root (2) perished in Bumrah’s next over.
Jonny Bairstow (10) and Ben Stokes (6) also returned after contributing cheaply as England slipped to 163/5, still trailing by 27 runs.
But wicketkeeper batter Ben Foakes provided subtle support to England’s mainstay Pope and the pair knitted an important partnership.
England’s sixth-wicket stand yielded 112 runs and came to its closure when Axar Patel breached Foakes’ defences and disturbed the woodwork to provide India a much-needed breakthrough.
The right-handed batter scored a gutsy 34 off 81 deliveries, hitting two boundaries.
Ollie Pope was then joined by young Rehan Ahmed at the crease and the two did well to carry their bat all the way through and put England in a better position.
The pair put together an unbeaten 41 before stumps were called.
Pope was unbeaten on 148 off 208 deliveries with the help of 17 boundaries and four sixes while Rehan Ahmed was undefeated on 16.
Earlier on Day 3, India resumed their overnight score of 421/7 but could only add 15 runs at the cost of their remaining wickets.
Ravindra Jadeja finished as the top-scorer for India with 87, followed by KL Rahul (86) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (80).
