Ollie Pope – returned to his home ground with a hard-fought half-century
Ollie Pope and Chris Woakes both scored valuable fifties on their return to Test cricket as England recovered from a top-order collapse to take a 99-run lead over India at the Oval.
Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul scored 43 for no loss after Ollie Pope (81) and Chris Woakes (50) gave England a 99-run lead.
England middle-order batsman Ollie Pope counts down his Test return with a half-century at his home ground, saying he has learned to shut down the “noise” by trusting the right people.
In the end, the Indian bowlers looked tired. the pacer was fit to go again after some on-field treatment. Till then the half-century of Chris Woakes had surprised the tourists. In the end, when England’s innings ended on 290. They had a 99-run lead in the first innings. India missed Ravichandran Ashwin badly on a brilliant batting day.
Ollie Pope slowly laid the foundation for England’s dominance and Woakes built on that, Ashwin’s absence was felt. To make matters worse, the team’s third and fourth seamers. Shardul Thakur and Mohammad Siraj, were off-colour. England took advantage.
India had a chance to play the game twice
Even with 191 runs on the board, India had a chance to play the game twice, first with two early morning wickets from Umesh Yadav and then with Jonny Bairstow’s post-lunch break. Losing nightwatchmen Craig Overton and David Malan at the start of the second day. The hosts were reduced to 62/5. And despite an 89-run sixth wicket partnership between Pope and Bairstow, England were bowled out for 151/6.
After losing two early wickets, Ollie Pope and Jonny Bairstow take England to lunch at 139/5, on day two.
Siraj conceded 42 runs in 12 overs, which was quite expensive in a low-scoring game. Also, playing in four consecutive Tests. The 27-year-old looked quite tired. Thakur found some swings. And although he was ultimately responsible for a well-established pope, it was too late.
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