IND vs ENG | Twitter reacts as valiant Pope ton on Day 3 keeps England praying for miraculous victory

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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England put their best foot forward in Hyderabad on Saturday to remain in the hunt for a historic victory against all odds. The visitors began the day by quickly wrapping up the Indian innings before Ollie Pope's inventive century saw them accumulate a lead of 126 with four wickets still in hand.

‌Brief Scores : E‌NG 311 & 316/6 (Pope 148*, Duckett 47; Bumrah 2/29) lead IND 436 (Jadeja 87, Axar 44; Root 4/79) by 126 runs. 

Resuming an overnight partnership of 53, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel seemed poise to extend England's agony considerably in the first session as they cautiously added just 15 runs in the opening hour. The English were quick to capitalize on the lack of intent as Joe Root first trapped the former LBW 13 runs short of a fourth Test ton before sounding Jasprit Bumrah the death knell for a golden duck. Rehan Ahmed completed the capitulation of India's tail with a leg-spinner that kept viciously low to disturb Axar Patel's stump and restrict the hosts' lead to 190.

The momentum carried over to England's batting as Zak Crawley and Ben Duckkett got off to a sprawling start and thwarted the lethal spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar at better-than-run-a-ball. Crawley eventually edged one to slip for a 33-ball 31 but Ollie Pope ensured there was no collapse, comprehensively steering the team past 100 shortly after Lunch. However, with the ball roughed up, skipper Rohit Sharma turned to Jasprit Bumrah for inspiration and the spearhead delivered with aplomb, firing in a lethal five-over spell that got the better of both Duckett and Root with ferocious reverse swing. Jonny Bairstow let a Jadeja arm ball crash into the stumps without obstruction and an unplayable Ashwin ripper gave Stokes marching orders to suddenly have England on their knees at 163/5.

A fatal collapse seemed on the cards but with a spirit unseen so far in the game, Ben Foakes joined Pope to stitch together an indomitable 112-run stand. The latter registered a career-defining century, laced with reverse sweeps and dilscoops, and found great support in Rehan Ahmed who remained unbeaten on 16 even after Foakes was undone by an unplayably low ball for 34. The 26-year-old remained unbeaten on 148 with England's lead already reading a commanding 126 on an increasingly perilous deck.

Crazy effort

Love it

Miyan bhai

True

Mediocre stuff

Stubborn times

Master Pope

Man of the day!

Impressive

Big deal

 

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