Headingley Test: Pope ton takes England past 200, but brilliant Bumrah gives India hope

India were left to rue the misses in the field and a wicket on a no-ball as Bazball counterpunch took England past 200 on the second day of the first Test match at Headingley in Leeds on Saturday.

Jasprit Bumrah, brilliant as ever, kept the visitors in the hunt with three wickets even though he got little assistance from his support cast after India were bowled out for 471. He could have had a fourth when Harry Brook top-edged an attempted pull of a short ball on off stump. Mohammed Siraj ran back to take a well-judged catch at midwicket, only to be turned down as Bumrah overstepped for the third time in the final over of the day.

Ollie Pope, riding on his luck after Indian fielders failed to grab the chances that came their way, scored a stroke-filled 100 in 131 balls with 13 fours. He was well supported by opener Ben Duckett (62) before Bumrah castled him. Together, they put on 124 runs for the second wicket.

ADVERTISEMENT

Joe Root shared an 80-run partnership with Pope before Bumrah induced an edge to Karun Nair, his second catch of the day. At stumps, England were 209 for 3.

Earlier, Rishabh Pant joined his captain, Shubman Gill and opener Yashasvi Jaiswal to be the third Indian centurion. However, England clawed back into the match with four wickets in the morning session and three after lunch, bowling India out for 471.

After the flurry of runs on Day 1 and early on Day 2, India would have been hoping to get to 550 or even 600. But as centurions departed -- Gill to a catch in the deep and Pant trapped in front, offering no shot -- the lower middle order offered little resistance.

ADVERTISEMENT

Malayali Karun Nair, who returned to the national duty after a gap of six years, had a brief stay at the crease when Ollie Pope pulled off a stunner to dismiss the Karnataka batter for a four-ball duck.

According to ESPNCricinfo, 471 is the lowest allout total in Test cricket to feature three (or more) centurions. The previous lowest was 475 by South Africa against England in 2016 at Centurion.

Pant was the star of the morning. He scored his seventh Test hundred by tonking offie Shoaib Bashir for a one-handed six over cow corner. As if reaching the three-figure mark (from 99) with a six was not enough, he removed his helmet, raised the bat to acknowledge the cheering crowd before doing a 10/10 somersault to complete his celebration.

ADVERTISEMENT

The wicketkeeper-batter milked the quicks without taking risks. But Pant, being Pant, could not stop himself when Ben Stokes introduced spin for the first time. He scooped the first ball by Shoaib Bashir over leg slip for four. He ended up on his back on the pitch while executing the outrageous shot. Then he tonked the spinner for a 6 to move into the 90s.

While the attention was on his deputy, captain Gill went about his business as usual. Picking up from where he left off on Day 1, Gill drove with consummate ease and used delicate touch to guide one down to the third man for boundaries before Bashir got him to play across the line to a floated delivery.

Click here to read article