England batter Ollie Pope got a fresh lease of life when Axar Patel dropped a half-chance off the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja. Pope had completed his hundred shortly before and was guiding England towards a healthy lead. The wicket of Pope, who is going from strength to strength at the moment, could’ve been a turning point in the match had Axar held on to the catch.
Ollie Pope scored the fifth century of his Test career on Saturday, becoming the fifth batter since 2016 to score a Test century in India against the hosts. Pope played a range of expansive shots in his long innings, especially trying multiple reverse-sweeps against the Indian spinners.
The Indians were unable to get Pope out, and missed out on the only opportunity that the England batter presented. Ironically, it was a reverse sweep that almost spelled Pope’s doom. Pope tried to play the shot on a pitched-up delivery of Ravindra Jadeja. However, the ball got his top-edge and flew towards Axar Patel who was standing at short point.
Axar jumped high to catch the ball but his leap was ill-timed as he was unable to hold on to the ball. He fumbled the ball and almost got a second chance but the ball went out of his reach, ensuring Pope had the opportunity to strengthen England’s lead further.
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