Ollie Pope has produced one the great innings by an England batsman in India to keep his team's hopes alive in the first Test in Hyderabad.
England went into day three trailing by 175 runs and facing the genuine prospect of an innings defeat, but they reached stumps with a 126-run lead thanks largely to the resilience and class of Pope.
After arriving at the crease after 9.2 overs, the vice-skipper hit 148 runs from 208 deliveries, batting out the remainder of the day to guide England to 316-6.
The day began with Joe Root setting up a hat-trick opportunity, taking the crucial wicket of Ravindra Jadeja (87), but even though he missed out on that chance and ended with figures of 4-79, India added just 15 runs to their overnight score to reach 436 all out.
Boasting a 190-run advantage on a deteriorating pitch, India would have fancied their chances of going 1-0 up in the series before the close of play, yet England moved the score along rapidly at the beginning of their second innings.
Zak Crawley made 31 from 33 and Ben Duckett added 47 from 52, but 113-2 soon turned into 163-5 as Root (2), Jonny Bairstow (10) and Ben Stokes (4) all failed to contribute sufficiently.
Ollie Pope reaches 1⃣0⃣0⃣
— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) January 27, 2024
His fifth in Test cricket - an excellent innings 👏#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/lkSQeC6KcW
Pope and Ben Foakes responded to ensure that India must bat again, with the pair putting on 112 for the sixth wicket before Foakes (34) was bowled by Axar Patel.
Jasprit Bumrah, who had already taken two wickets, was brought back to try to dismiss Pope or youngster Rehan Ahmed, who had to battle against his natural attacking instincts to show that he had the mentality to see out an important role with Pope.
The bowling all-rounder came through with flying colours, chipping in with 16 from 31, but the day belonged to Pope, whose fifth Test century will be classed as one of the best by an England batsmen on the sub-continent in recent memory as he gave England a chance of pulling off a once-unthinkable win.
Darren Plant
