Ollie Pope’s Masterful 196 Puts India on Edge: Chasing 231 for Victory
Pope's 196 Puts India on Edge: Target 231
IND VS ENG: With little over five sessions remaining in the Hyderabad Test, England set India a target of 231, thanks in large part to Ollie Pope, who came agonisingly close to an astonishing double century. Along with a free-spirited Tom Hartley, Pope’s efforts helped England score 420 runs on Day 3, an unlikely total considering they were five wickets behind India’s first-inning advantage at one point. But by Day 4’s lunch, they had reversed the situation thanks to Pope’s efforts to maintain their hopes of winning the first Test of the series.
After getting the old ball to reverse away from Rehan Ahmed on Day 3, Jasprit Bumrah picked up where he left off. Hartley followed, forging a resolute stance with Pope and casting doubt on India’s intentions to pull the tail. India held off on grabbing the new ball as the advantage surpassed 150, hoping to score a few more runs with the previous one. It didn’t make a difference even when Rohit Sharma did take it, in the 89th over, as Hartley and Pope, who were always counterattacking Ashwin, added a quick 65-ball partnership worth 50 runs to increase England’s lead to 200.
If India’s careless fielding made things worse for them, England’s aggressive strategy for success was insufficient. KL Rahul dropped an easy catching opportunity that the England batsman provided him at first slip off Mohammed Siraj when Pope was on 186.
The six foot four inch left-hander, who drew easily against Siraj, also foiled the plan to keep hitting Hartley with short balls. The way the left-hander made the dangerous option of a planned reverse sweep against Ashwin seem routine was arguably the best way to sum up England’s dominance in the middle. Near the conclusion of the session, Ashwin responded by dominating the left-hander, but not before he and Pope established an immensely vital 80-run partnership for the eighth wicket.
ALSO WATCH :
After taking the wicket of Mark Wood at 419 for 8, Jadeja swiftly advanced the ball to 420 for 9, putting Jack Leach—who had a swollen leg—to the middle. Bumrah was brought back right away by Rohit Sharma in an attempt to finish the batting before the scheduled lunch break. Pope was dismissed and England’s innings ended as he attempted to play the reverse scoop against Bumrah’s slower delivery. Pope lived by the sword and died by it.
Brief scores: England 246 & 420 (Ollie Pope 196, Ben Duckett 47; Jasprit Bumrah 4-41, Ravichandran Ashwin 3-126) lead India 436 (Ravindra Jadeja 87, KL Rahul 86; Joe Root 4/79) by 230 runs
ENDLAND TEST SQUAD: Ben Stokes (C), James Anderson, Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Shoib Bashir, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes (Wk), Dan Lawrence, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Mark Wood.
INDIA TEST SQUAD : Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah