Ollie Pope (147*) guides England to a 126-run lead as they end Day 3 of the 1st Test against India at 316/6

This partnership has now assumed dangerous proportions.
The partnership is great but England’s problem is so far in this match one wicket has brought another one or two close after.

This partnership probably needs to add at least another 50 for England to start hoping.
 
The partnership is great but England’s problem is so far in this match one wicket has brought another one or two close after.

This partnership probably needs to add at least another 50 for England to start hoping.
50 should be piece of cake considering Axar's ineffectiveness in this innings and Ashwin being tired.
 
The pitch has also clearly eased out quite a bit.

I don’t know if England can defend a mid sized target with Wood, Hartley, Root, and Ahmed bowling all of the overs.
 
First task for England is to make it to the end of the day without losing another wicket.
 
Good second innings effort overall and this has been a stellar partnership. The first innings deficit and the subpar English bowling attack in this match will make it very difficult from them to force a win, but even in a losing cause this fightback gives England something to take away from the game ahead of a long series.
 
KP: Heads dropping for India
Former England batter Kevin Pietersen:

"A few fielders are feeling concerned, looking concerned. Heads are dropping on the India side.

"This has been a brilliant display by Pope and Foakes, applying pressure, and England feel they can make a game of this.”
 
Masterclass in sweeps and laps

This is modern cricket. You have to have an answer for all sorts of challenge
 
Will end soon unless England get to 200 type lead - India batting is just too strong for these piddly targets -
 
who knew the secret to scoring vs ashwin,jaddu and axar in india was reverse sweeping, reverse lapping and reverse scooping half the deliveries you face
 
a lot more interest in the match from the 'locals' :) - than on the first day - one guy declared this series as 'meaningless' when india went into lead......
but overall a good fight by eng - awesme innings from Pope... irrespective of result of match...they will take big confidence and lots of positives from this match
any score nearing 200 to chase will be dicey for our guys - esp with no VK...
 
As an indian must say, 300 in an second innings in india against a qualtiy attack is a terrific achievement , & also scored at sucha fast rate.
Full on marks to Eng and their fighting attitude, this is what test cricket needs and Eng are rapidly becoming the side every one wants to see and pay - surely with this - they put backsides on seats and empty bars...
 
Look @ the size of the advt's on the shirt front....looks like Dream 11 is playing Cinch...and in the day night test looks like Toyota is playing whatever fluff WI are flogging and wanting us to buy....
Not long back it looked as if the india playe'rs were playing for Star/BYJU's...
A pity that commercial considerations have taken over and the cricketing administerators have sold their soul to the almighty money pot. i watched the 1960-61 tied test on u tube recently and how refreshing to watch cricketers in whites with no crude, corny, cringy in your face logos!!!
 
Two fantastic Test matches in progress. Both still could go either way. People are so busy writing the format's obituary we sometimes forget to appreciate how compelling it can be.
 
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Ollie Pope made a magnificent century, his best innings for England, to keep the tourists alive after three days of the first Test against India in Hyderabad.

Pope's epic 148 not out dragged England to 316-6 in their second innings, 126 ahead and with hope of pulling off a famous win.

The vice-captain received brilliant support from Ben Foakes, who made 34 in a sixth-wicket stand of 108 that first ensured England were not beaten with two days to spare, then built a handy lead.

Though Foakes was bowled by Axar Patel, Rehan Ahmed survived to the close on 16 not out. Perhaps crucially, Pope was dropped on 110 and will return on Sunday with the opportunity to set India a testing target.

All of this after Jasprit Bumrah's scintillating spell of reverse-swing bowling helped reduce England to 163-5 and in danger of wasting a good start to the day.

India managed only 15 runs in the morning session, bowled out for 436, with Joe Root taking two wickets in two balls to end with 4-79. Overall, the hosts lost their last three wickets for no runs but still had a lead of 190.

If England are to achieve something remarkable, they may have to hope for an improvement in the condition of leading spinner Jack Leach, who had his left leg heavily strapped and was able to bowl only one over.

BBC Sport
 
Root: Pope got us back in the game

England's Joe Root speaking on TNT Sports:

"It was a brillant day of cricket for England. We were clinical with the ball and made it difficult for India to capitalise on what they did yesterday. Crawley and Duckett have been so good for so long.

"Pope has been an absolute masterclass on how to score runs in this part of the world. To be able to consistently make the right decision under pressure was fantastic. He's coming back from injury and got us back in the game.

"The pitch is nice to bowl on. I was really pleased with the way we finished things off this morning.

"We're always trying to put ourselves in a winning position and we're on our way to that. We have to keep playing how we play.

"A great thing about Pope was that he knew the field and played well, even when it was reverse swinging."
 
I had written this yesterday on day 2 match thread ::

"" But surprisingly if any team can come out of this hole- it is eng ironically. One or 2 bazball innings from their batsmen and a lead of 150+ and who knows what can happen in the 4rh innings. Even aus is not capable of that as they bat more traditionally.. but again extremely tall odds.. ""

Well here we are! Eng will have a 150 plus lead now.. they can get it to 200 and above. 4th inning chases can be tricky
 
Solid fightback built on a career-to-date best innings from Pope.

126 isn’t yet enough of a lead to have a realistic chance of winning. 180 could be interesting if the pitch starts playing some dirty tricks. 220 though and I really think it will be game on.

I think England all out in the morning and India chase down 155 with some wickets down… but this has been a good competitive game.
 
A handicapped England without Rehan aka their ace is still competing well despite this Vince McMahon like stipulation set by BCCI.

All good.
 
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Solid fightback built on a career-to-date best innings from Pope.

126 isn’t yet enough of a lead to have a realistic chance of winning. 180 could be interesting if the pitch starts playing some dirty tricks. 220 though and I really think it will be game on.

I think England all out in the morning and India chase down 155 with some wickets down… but this has been a good competitive game.

I think we need 230-ish to give something for Bharat to really fret over.
 
100 more runs and Indian Top 5 are a fragile bunch. Anything can happen.

Its 70-30 in India's favor now.
 

Michael Atherton: Ollie Pope's 'courageous' century displays England's positive belief against India​

Ollie Pope's "courageous" century against India was an embodiment of England's positive belief in themselves, says Sky Sports Cricket expert Michael Atherton.

England's vice-captain struck a magnificent 148 not out on day three of the first Test as a resurgent England fought back hard against India's skilful bowlers.

It was Pope's first ton in the sub-continent as he shared a belligerent sixth-wicket stand of 112 with Ben Foakes (34) to pull England from 163-5 to close on 316-6 with a lead of 126.

"It was a massive day and it was just an absolutely brilliant innings for Ollie Pope," Atherton said. "I can't exaggerate enough how good an innings that was.

"It was his best innings as an England cricketer, just incredible. There were some staggering shots in that. If you put yourself in his shoes, he hasn't played since injuring his shoulder, he hasn't had much match practice albeit the 10 days in Abu Dhabi, and he looked skittish in the first innings.

"Yet he still has the bravery to come out and play as he did today. That takes a lot of courage and a lot of guts to do that. So credit to him on a brilliant ton."

Pope was dropped on 110 by Axar Patel at backward square but the 26-year-old swept and scooped his way to his fifth Test century showing a great intent against India's dominant spinners.

Source: SKY
 
After batting masterclass, Ollie Pope asks Root to do the talking at press conference

Joe Root, effusive in praise, calls Ollie Pope's innings one of the best knocks that he's ever seen

Senior England batsman Joe Root said he was left "speechless" after Ollie Pope made a stunning hundred to lead a fightback against India on the third day of the first Test on Saturday.

Pope made an unbeaten 148 off 208 balls as England closed the day at 316 for six, to be ahead of India by 126 runs.

"I'm speechless. It's one of the best knocks that I've ever seen. I've seen a lot of cricket. Played and batted out there in the middle with a lot of brilliant players and to witness that today was really special," said Root in his post-day press meet.

Such was the brilliance of Pope's knock that Root, a former captain, didn't mind when the youngster requested him to attend the press conference in his place.

"I didn't mind when he big-dogged me and said 'can you do the press (conference)' because to manipulate the field as he did against that attack, on that surface, to show the powers of concentration, determination, fitness and skill…immense," Root added.

The former England captain was chuffed for Pope because it's not easy for an overseas batter to come to the sub-continent and make an impression.

"Honestly, it's an absolute masterclass on how to bat in these conditions. As an overseas player, someone who's not exposed to these surfaces, and to come back off a serious injury like he had in summer and have that amount of time out of the game and then put together that… outstanding," said Root.

Pope was ruled out of the Ashes series against Australia in June last year with a dislocated shoulder and the Hyderabad Test was the Chelsea man's first match since then.

Root said Pope has grown into one of the leaders of the dressing room.

Source : The Hindustan Times
 
India Bowling coaching Parash Mhambrey presse conference

"We are not looking at any particular target (to chase) as I said the objective is to come tomorrow morning and get early wickets and limit their total.

"We are not putting any pressure on ourselves by setting any target. We just want to bowl in the right areas to extract turn and bounce from the wicket,"

"If you look at the way the game has progressed over the last few days from the first session, the amount of turn the ball has taken, I think it got better in the second innings. I think it is going to get a bit better on the slower side (tomorrow).

"There will be some turn but it is not the usual turn you see in the Indian sub-continental wickets, the sharp turn when the game progresses. There is a little turn but not as challenging," he noted.

"We knew prior to the series the way England played over the last couple of years and the kind of approach they had to Test cricket. We were expecting them to come here with that aggression and play those kinds of shots.

"But credit goes to them for playing those shots and some of the shots Pope played were very brave, and playing those shots consistently can put the opposition under pressure,"

"It does happen as the batsmen start to access different areas. It is going to be a challenge. Pope accessed the square leg area and the reverse sweep as well. They took on the attack when it was really needed.

"Sometimes it happens because someone like him who plays these kinds of shots consistently does get the bowlers under pressure in terms of variations of the line. But we need to be patient with lines and hope to get a wicket,"
 
England could still fold quite quickly on day 4, they need a solid 1st session with bat. Ultimately the 1st inns lead India have will win them the game
 
England destroyed Pakistani spinners with their sweeps and reverse sweeps especially Ben Ducket.

Here the likes of Ducket and Pope have done it against a superior spin experienced spin bowling attack of Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar.
 
If England can get around 230 I think they will win.
Yes most likely as youngsters can't perform under immense pressure and there is no pant .
But English attack is not that great otherwise any other decent attack can defend 230 on day 4 or 5 .
 
Yes most likely as youngsters can't perform under immense pressure and there is no pant .
But English attack is not that great otherwise any other decent attack can defend 230 on day 4 or 5 .
They missed the GOAT kohli.
 
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