Ollie Pope smokes his maiden Test century against India
England's star batter Ollie Pope has smoked a fine century against India in the ongoing opening Test in Hyderabad. While he could manage just one run in his first outing, he touched the three-figure mark in the second innings. Pope's knock was indeed crucial as England lost regular wickets at the other end. Meanwhile, this was his maiden Test hundred against India.
A valiant effort from Pope
Pope arrived in the middle at 45/1. He stitched a 68-run stand with opener Ben Duckett (47) as England went past the 100-run mark. The sudden of four wickets meant the visitors were reduced to 163/5. However, Pope continued to bat well at one end and completed his ton in the final session of Day 3.
Second 50-plus score against India (Tests)
This was Pope's second 50-plus score against India as he has raced past 400 Test runs against them, averaging 22-plus. Over 250 of his runs have come on Indian soil. Overall, Pope has gone past 2,230 runs at an average of 34-plus. This was his fifth Test hundred as the tally also includes 11 fifties.
Pope also accomplishes these feats
Meanwhile, this was Pope's maiden Test hundred in England's second innings. As per Cricbuzz, he became just the second visiting batter to slam a Test hundred in the second innings versus India in India since 2018. He has joined Sri Lanka opener Dimuth Karunaratne, who made 107 in the 2022 Bengaluru Test.
How has the first Test panned out?
Three-fers from Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja helped India outmuscle England in their first innings. Despite Ben Stokes's valiant half-century, England perished for 246. In response, India managed 436/10. Jadeja managed 87 with KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal scoring 80-plus scores. For England, Joe Root claimed a four-wicket haul. Pope's ton has powered England past 240 in the third innings.
