IND vs ENG: 'Unbelievable Knock by Ollie Pope' - Zak Crawley Hails England's Centurion

England opener Zak Crawley heaped praise on centurion Ollie Pope for his brilliant knock which has kept the visitors alive in the first Test match against India in Hyderabad. Pope played a fighting knock when things were going India’s way to ensure the England bowlers would have something to fight for in the fourth innings.

Pope’s unbeaten 148-run knock helped England bounce back with a lead of 126 runs at stumps on Day 3.

At the close of play, England were 316/6 with Pope and Rehan Ahmed unbeaten.

India vs England 1st Test Day 3 Highlights

Crawley said it was an unbelievable knock by Pope and suggested if England managed to add a few more runs to their lead then it could be a tricky run chase for the hosts in the fourth innings.

“We’re happy, unbelievable knock by Ollie. Few more runs in the morning it could be a tricky chase,” Crawley told broadcasters after the day’s play.

India finished their first innings on 436 with a lead of 190 and had England in trouble at 163-5 when Pope anchored a 112-run stand with wicketkeeper Ben Foakes, who made 34.

“Bat like the first innings, the batters did that really well, very pleased” Crawley said on the talk before the start of second innings.

Meanwhile, Crawley was dismissed by Ashwin in both innings as he talked about his battle with the veteran Indian spinner.

“He bowled a nice ball today, he’s allowed to do that. nothing changes for me. We can learn a lot from Ollie,” he added.

The English batters relied heavily on sweeps and reverse-sweeps to score runs against the Indian spinners as Crawley said, “It was something we have grown up with, it’s a nice way to put them off their lengths.”

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Meanwhile, the opening batter showed faith in Rehan Ahmed’s batting skills and suggested England will look to get another 50 runs on Day 4.

“We would have taken this for sure, another 45-50 runs, it could be a tricky chase for them. He’s an amazing talent, he’s very confident as well, hopefully he can get some runs in the morning,” Crawley concluded.