Pope and Duckett spearhead England’s response

Following India’s day of batting supremacy, England stormed back into the match, offsetting Rishabh Pant’s 134-run earlier in the day. India was bowled out for 471, the lowest total of any team in Test history with three individual hundreds, after losing their final seven wickets for just 41 runs after reaching 430 for 3 at one point. Furthermore, England’s batting came as promised, making quick progress and soaring to 107 for 1 at tea time.

With Jasprit Bumrah hitting early and catching Zak Crawley at first slip with a pearler, England’s batting start had hit a speedbreaker. Throughout his first five-over spell, Bumrah remained a menace, setting up a few chances against Ben Duckett only to have them thwarted by Ravindra Jadeja and Yashasvi Jaiswal in the gully area. India battled for comparable control at the other end while he was in rhythm. Duckett and Ollie Pope sped off after hitting Mohammad Siraj for 23 in his opening four overs and hitting his substitute, Prasidh Krishna, at 6.40.

The two kept the strike cycling over often and were brutal on everything that was in their scoring zones. With a sweeping victory over Ravindra Jadeja, Duckett became the first player to reach fifty, while Tea kept Pope undefeated at forty-eight.

The 103-run partnership mainly defied the available conditions, which had become bowler-friendly due to gloomy sky. Prior to the rain interrupting the second session, England had done a good job of tying up the tail. Soon after the lunch break, Josh Tongue took the final three wickets of the game, completing England’s comeback with the ball in favorable overhead conditions prior to the break. It had been a tale of two halves even in the first session. Better batting conditions allowed India to reach 53 for 0 in the first hour, but with some cloud cover in the second, they lost four wickets for 42 runs, giving England a chance to catch up.

With Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant carrying on where they left off overnight at 359 for 3, India had threatened to get more before the abrupt turnabout. Given the base that India had already established, Pant was authorized to break free. Both batters were able to play more freely because neither the pitch nor the environment had changed substantially last night. In the second over of the day, Gill got off to a spectacular off drive, but Pant quickly caught up. Brydon Carse was the target of his first three boundaries of the day, and as offspinner Shoaib Bashir entered the assault, he started to open up more. In the same over, he mowed him over midwicket for six after greeting him with a paddle for four. He entered his nineties as a result.

With another sweeping six off Bashir, the hundred arrived in style, and there was a somersault to celebrate. The long off fielder was tormented for a while by another six in the same over before palming it over as he ran back. However, it indicated that Pant intended to change tactics after India also surpassed the 400-run threshold. Gill, on the other hand, was cruising toward the 150-run mark when he mishandled a slog-sweep off Bashir and was caught at deep square leg, three runs short of the mark. A dramatic 209-run stand for the fourth wicket came to an end. And one brought two when a leaping Ollie Pope collected a blob off Stokes at short cover during comeback man Karun Nair’s stay. In between, Pant continued to smoke Bashir for another six and almost got stuck trying for another, only to be spared by a mistake made by Jamie Smith. However, his luck was short-lived as England managed to get some movement with the ball, which led to a few nervous minutes before he was caught LBW shouldering arms to Tongue. He was also not saved by the review, but it gave England a chance. At lunchtime, Stokes grabbed it with both hands and added Shardul Thakur to his cat.

From from point on, it was all England as they kept applying the opposite pressure to India with the bat.