Some of the messaging from the England camp can sound delusional at times but internally it clearly has merit. They approached the third day here as if memories of the previous two had been wiped like a politician’s WhatsApps, a sublime century from Ollie Pope pushing back against India when all hope seemed lost.
Whether this would add up to anything but a 1-0 lead for the hosts remained to be seen at the close, England reaching 316 for six and 126 runs ahead on a pitch yet to break up. But the fact nothing was settled was to their credit, likewise the architect being one of the players who looked so lost on that bleak pandemic tour of India three years ago.
Over the course of two sessions, Pope repelled everything India threw at him. Given this included a truly elite burst of reverse swing from Jasprit Bumrah after lunch, one that sent Ben Duckett’s off-stump tumbling and wiped out Joe Root lbw, this was some effort. Come stumps, Pope was unbeaten on 148 from 208 balls, a fifth Test century sealed an hour earlier with a wing-heeled dash for three and a pearly white smile.
There was a sketchy under-edge between wicketkeeper and slip second ball and a life truly gifted on 110 when Axar Patel dropped a dolly at backward point. But otherwise it was the prince of the Oval, rather than the previous pauper in India, Pope initially racing to 50 from 54 balls before throttling back to play the longer game. As England keep stressing, they are more flexible than some give them credit for.
Unlike India, the sweep was a rich source of runs, Duckett’s impish 47 having earlier set the tone. Support for Pope was naturally essential, Ben Foakes arriving at a perilous 163 for five and helping to add 102 runs through a calm head and those low-slung hands. Not that the latter could offer full protection, Foakes agonisingly bowled on 34 by a shooter from Patel; one of the few gremlins on the day.
Instead, it was young Rehan Ahmed who assisted Pope through to the close, the pair trowelling a further 41 runs on to a session of 144 runs that had finally induced a few sideways glances among Rohit Sharma and his men. India having earlier vaporised Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes in quick succession, raising thoughts of a three-day finish, this scenario was very much not in their script.
The pushback began in the morning, a first session won by England at the seventh attempt and a pretty tidy one too. They mopped up India’s lower order to keep the deficit to 190 runs and then swept away 89 of these for the loss of one wicket by lunch. Root was the catalyst, completing figures of four for 79 from 29 overs and booking himself in for plenty more in this series in the process.
In tandem with Mark Wood, and with support from the officials, Root managed to shut down Ravindra Jadeja for 87 when a dipping delivery thumped the all-rounder’s front pad. There was doubt – an inside-edge possibly tickled simultaneously – but with the finger going up on the field, the TV umpire, Marais Erasmus, supported his colleague.
Jadeja gone, Root then castled Bumrah to set up a hat-trick ball that Mohammed Siraj just about squirted away safely. Instead it was Ahmed who shut down proceedings, replacing the injured Jack Leach after one over and shooting one under Patel’s bat. India, 436 all out, were still light years ahead however.
Then came a spirited response from two openers partial to a bold public statement, Duckett and Zak Crawley bursting out of the traps. Crawley could not make it to the interval, Ravichandran Ashwin teasing an edge to slip after a smart switch of angle, but Duckett was toying with Patel at the other end, his bat, ahem, extremely horizontal.
Enter Bumrah, who got a 15-over ball – one possibly scuffed by repeated impact with the LCD advertising boards – to swing sharply and late for what looked a game-breaking two-wicket spell of five overs; a wonderful dose of Indian tamasha that had 28,000 spectators utterly transfixed by the skill of Sharma’s spearhead.
Duckett got away with one lbw shout – unreviewed but showing three reds on Hawk-Eye – before his stump flew backwards as he attempted an ambitious drive, while Root played around one. Pope, meanwhile, was just about digging out the yorkers from his toes, desperately waiting for the sweet relief of India’s spinners returning at both ends.
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Not that such a thing exists, summed up by the bamboozlement of Bairstow, bowled for 10, as Jadeja ragged one square before he left the follow-up arm-ball. Stokes was also subdued, falling to Ashwin for the 12th time in Test cricket – more than any other batter – when, on six, he played inside an off-break.
Instead, it was England’s vice-captain who managed to tame the pair, take this Test match into its fourth day and underline why some of the chat is not blind optimism.
