Ben Duckett’s 62 in a 122-run stand with Pope held England’s response together after India finished on 471
Vithushan Ehantharajah21-Jun-2025Stumps Saturday in Leeds was a day of opportunities taken and spurned. Unfortunately for India, it was their contribution to the latter that has changed the complexion of this Test match.Having begun the day with Rishabh Pant’s thrill-filled 134, the third century of the innings, India proceeded to lose 7 for 41 to cap their first innings at 471. And yet more profligacy in the field not only allowed Ollie Pope to move to his ninth Test century, but England to close on 209 for 3.Related
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Pope, unbeaten on 100, rests satiated with a second Test hundred in a row following his 171 against Zimbabwe, at a time when his place has been questioned with the precocious yet century-less Jacob Bethell, who is waiting in the wings.Pope rests dreaming of mimicking his Hyderabad epic that dug England out of a similar-sized hole. But India will rue a drop on 60 by Yashasvi Jaiswal at third slip, after Pope had played in the air through that region earlier (when on 48), and where fourth would have been at the very start of his innings when on 10. That he had made all three errors off Jasprit Bumrah was no surprise, particularly as the demonic quick ended up accounting for all three wickets.But just when it looked like Bumrah would head to stumps with a clean record, a third front-foot no ball in his final over of the day ended up giving Harry Brook a life on 0. A brutal short ball was clothed amateurishly by Brook towards midwicket. Umpire Chris Gaffaney, having stuck his arm out for the previously delivery, put his hand to his ear before doing so once more as news of another infringement came through from the television umpire.2:22
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That would have made it 208 for 4 at stumps. India’s frustration was carried in spades by the searing bouncer Bumrah delivered to close out a thrilling day’s play. They could have batted a victory out of England’s reach but instead, the hosts have seven wickets left to claw back more if not all of the remaining deficit of 262.Was it a lack of ruthlessness on Shubman Gill’s first day in the field as India’s Test captain? If so, it was not something anyone could have predicted when he and Pant recommenced India’s first innings on 359 for 3. The first 90 minutes of play was a reassertion of their day one dominance, with Pant at his mischievous best.He was a one-man circus of heaves and tumbles, the first of them coming when he greeted Shoaib Bashir’s first delivery with a fall-away paddle over his shoulder. The second was more choreographed after lifting Bashir over wide midwicket to bring up his seventh hundred as wicketkeeper, from his 146th delivery, this a third century on these shores – no other keeper-batter has more than one – that also sits top of his three-figure knocks for most sixes (six).There were no chances offered, per se, until, on 124, he ran past a delivery from Bashir and was forced to reclaim his ground on his hands and knees, having flung the bat away towards fine leg. Jamie Smith failed to capitalise on the error, but his blushes were saved when Josh Tongue, hidden in the field for most of this session, was able to catch Pant not playing a shot to trap him lbw.2:33
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By then, Gill’s own century had been cut off at 147, when he lifted Bashir to Tongue at deep square-leg, angling for his second six and 21st boundary, ending the fourth-wicket stand on 209. Karun Nair had also come and gone, an eight-year hiatus amounting to a four-ball duck when he was plucked gloriously out of the air by Pope at cover.And so, with lunch looming, the thought was India would take it to the break and regroup. Alas, Shardul Thakur brought about an early break when chasing a very wide delivery through to Smith. It gave Ben Stokes figures for 4 for 66, once again the England captain standing out as the best bowler on show.He was soon joined on a four-for by Tongue, who wagged when the tail did not to clean up some untidy figures. The Nottinghamshire quick went from nursing 0 for 78 from 17 to parading 4 for 86 from 20.A tame but delaying shower meant England’s first innings only began at 2.55pm, with ominous looking clouds and a ground illuminated by the floodlights promising movement for Bumrah. He needed just six deliveries to get one bending reality; Zak Crawley turned inside out with one that swung in late and seamed away later, flying through to Nair at face height at first slip.
That he would only take 1 for 21 in his opening five overs was through no fault of his own. Though Gill kept a packed cordon for the first 20 overs, the desire to cover more than one position with just one fielder led to Pope’s initial pseudo life on 10 – a Schrödinger’s fourth slip, if you will. But it was at the end of his fourth over that Bumrah had Ben Duckett dropped on 15, by Ravindra Jadeja of all people, at backward point.Duckett would end up moving to his 19th score of fifty or more from 68 deliveries with a fine sweep off Jadeja, marching forward with Pope in a stand of 122 that for the most part actually felt easier than it maybe should have been.On 62, Duckett drove a thick edge onto his stumps to hand Bumrah his third, met with an exclamation from the 31-year-old that spoke of the fact his frustration was steadily morphing into anger. From that point on, it was Pope who seized the initiative a little more, dwarfing Joe Root (42 to 28) in an 80-run stand where he seemed like the more established pro.Mohammed Siraj emerged from a patchy first spell to hold his own and one end, and seemingly had Root on toast. For a moment, he thought he had him outright, lbw for 7, with the impact in front of the stumps and the right-hand batter selling it well with a stumble over to the off side. But a review would take that from Siraj, with HawkEye projecting the delivery would miss leg stump, forcing umpire Paul Reiffel to overturn his decision.Pope, though, was making hay while Bumrah was powering back up. He had already got away with a flinch outside off that Jaiswal, diving low to his right, should have held. Bumrah’s reaction was to open his arms out to the cordon as if to ask “WHY?!” Understandably, given he had opened the evening session and been immediately dabbed through a vacant third by Pope, who moved to 52 from 74 deliveries.1:12
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The remainder of the No. 3’s crisp 100 took just 51 deliveries more, helped by Thakur’s lack of pace, which allowed him to drive on the up through the covers, before a stylish back cut off Prasidh Krishna’s extra pace. The latter decided to be more forceful in his approach to Pope, offering a few choice words along with some short stuff. Pope responded with a well-executed pull-flip over to the fine-leg fence for a one bounce for, clearing the man up around the corner with ease, and taking deep square-leg out of the game entirely.Bumrah’s return for two overs at the end was always going to give us a final shot of drama. A thick inside edge into the leg side brought Pope his century, and as good a reason as any to let the frustrations of talk in the media and behind his back flow out in a cathartic, satisfying roar, punching the air with a mix of relief and glee. It was by no means a convincing way to move to such a landmark, but the fact he walked at Bumrah was an apt reminder of the guts he showed throughout this knock.Joy was short-lived when Root finally succumbed to a teaser outside off. But an over later, Bumrah’s journey to anger had been completed. Brook’s reprieve was all the more irksome for India considering the efforts of Siraj to take the catch running back at midwicket.India still have the surer footing in this match, with England resuming on Sunday 63 off the follow-on target. But they have relinquished the opportunity to be the sole drivers of this match.