Ollie Pope’s gutsy century led England’s resurgence only for Jasprit Bumrah to give India the crucial wicket of Joe Root late on day two of the first Test.
Pope, preferred to rising star Jacob Bethell at number three, repaid England’s faith with 100 not out at Headingley.
The ball after Pope completed his century, Bumrah had Root caught at first slip to leave England 209-3 – all three wickets falling to the pace maestro.
England are 262 adrift of India’s 471, a total that should have been much greater.
Despite Rishabh Pant completing a thrilling century, the tourists lost their last seven wickets for 41 runs.
Captain Ben Stokes and Josh Tongue claimed four wickets apiece.
Under a brooding sky – play was held up for 40 minutes by rain – England were faced with the threat of Bumrah, who promptly had Zak Crawley caught at slip.
Bumrah was electrifying, but England dug in through a stand of 122 between Ben Duckett and Pope.
Duckett was dropped off Bumrah, Pope edged the same bowler through the slips.
Duckett fell for 62 to Bumrah’s second spell, in which Pope was dropped at third slip by Yashasvi Jaiswal on 60.
In the evening sunshine, Root overturned being given lbw. Bumrah was summoned for one more spell.
Though he could not prevent Pope’s milestone, he snatched the bigger prize of Root.
Incredibly, there was still time for Harry Brook to be caught off a Bumrah no-ball. It was a heart-stopping end to an engrossing day.
India leave runs out there
Given their first-day platform, India had the opportunity to push for 550 or even more.
England’s anonymous first hour, when Stokes chose to delay his own entry into the attack, gave no clue of the collapse to come.
Pant, resuming on 65, planted off-spinner Shoaib Bashir for six. When he repeated the dose, this time with one hand off the bat, the left-hander reached his second Test ton since a life-threatening car crash in December 2022.
Ever the showman, he celebrated with a somersault.
India were in complete control until captain Shubman Gill, who added 20 to move to 147, needlessly clipped Bashir to Tongue at deep mid-wicket. From then on, the visitors fell apart.
When Stokes finally brought himself on in the 12th over of the day, he again looked a threat with pace, a full length and swing.
Karun Nair, in his first Test innings for eight years, drove to the flying Pope at short cover for a four-ball duck.
Tongue was poor on day one and ignored until 18 minutes before lunch on day two. He found the same movement as Stokes and got the crucial wicket.
Pant, who should have been stumped by Jamie Smith off Bashir, was befuddled into leaving a Tongue in-swinger that trapped him lbw.
The clouds gathered, the floodlights came on and the lower-order did not resist. Shardul Thakur edged Stokes behind, Bumrah edged to second slip off Tongue, who then bowled both Jadeja and Prasidh Krishna. England took the last seven wickets in 68 balls. (BBC)
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