Hyderabad: The first test between India and England was equally poised by the end of the third day of the Hyderabad Test as Ollie Pope stitched a sensational knock to help England take a lead of 126 runs on a pitch which has plenty to offer for spinners.
Indian innings was wrapped up with a lead of 190 runs earlier in the day. England started their innings on a positive note as both the openers, Zak Crawley (31) and Ben Duckett (47) got starts. However, wickets kept falling after their wicket and England were reduced to 163/5 at one point of time. It appeared that, India are on verge of bundling out the visitors with a minimal total to chase. However, once Ollie Pope settled on the pitch, he tackled the spinners as well as pacers brilliantly.
Pope played a knock of unbeaten 148 runs laced with 17 boundaries. Ben Foakes (34) lent him a supporting hand for the sixth wicket as the duo stitched a 112-run partnership before being dismissed by Axar Patel. Rehan Ahmed who came in to bat next ensured there was no more fall of wickets scoring unbeaten 16 runs.
Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin scalped two wickets each while Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja picked one wicket each. The Indian bowling unit will now aim to skittle out the English side next day as soon as possible with the possibility that chasing on the last couple of days might be pretty tough.
