Pope defies India, edges England ahead: 4th Test, Day 2 (Oval)

Ollie Pope hit a defiant 81 as England finished their first innings 99 runs ahead of India.

Pope, returning after missing the first three Tests, added 89 with Jonny Bairstow (37) and shared 71 with Moeen Ali, whose contribution was 35 to dig England out of a deep hole when they slumped to 62-5.

Chris Woakes (50) added 45 for the last wicket with James Anderson to take England to 290 all out.

In their second innings, India’s Rohit Sharma got a lifeline when Rory Burns completely misjudged a low catch at the second slip. India finished at 43-0.

India 191 and 43 for 0 (Rahul 22*, Rohit 20*) trail England 290 (Pope 81, Woakes 50, Yadav 3-76) by 56 runs.

Sept 2021.