After Pant dazzles with century, Pope leads fightback by England

That three excellent sessions don't win a Test was learnt the hard way when India lost seven wickets for 41 runs after Rishabh Pant scored his seventh Test hundred in the second day of the first Test at Headingley, Leeds on Saturday.

- Somshuvra Laha

KOLKATA:

Jasprit Bumrah kept India in the hunt with three wickets, starting by bending the ball outrageously to send Zak Crawley back quickly, but Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope responded with an aggressive counterattack that saw them add 122 runs at nearly five runs per over.

Duckett was dropped twice before Bumrah finally snapped him up to end that threatening second-wicket stand. But Pope too was dropped and he used that lifeline to race to his ninth Test hundred, helping England chip away at India's first innings score of 471 with authority.

It was Bumrah again who dismissed Joe Root ten minutes before stumps as England finished the day on a relatively strong 209/3 with Pope and Harry Brook unbeaten at the crease. It could have been four down had Bumrah not overstepped when Siraj caught Brook in the last over of the day but such has been the day for India.

It was an anticlimactic end to the proceedings considering the ominous cloud cover and the burst of drizzle that slightly delayed the start of England's innings. Bumrah bowled like the skilled operator he is but neither Mohammed Siraj nor Prasidh Krishna could back him up enough, which meant India looked bereft of ideas whenever Bumrah was rested.