Pope, Bairstow lead England's counter

On Sep 3, 2021

The first session on the second day’s play of the fourth Test between England and India at The Oval in many ways mirrored that of the opening day yesterday.

It consisted of two distinct halves, with India claiming moral victory in the first but England eventually taking the honours.

Ollie Pope and Jonny Bairstow were the protagonists in stabilising hosts, helping them recover from a precarious 62 for five with a counter-attacking unbeaten stand of 77 off just 108 balls.

India’s bowlers began the session in sprightly fashion with Umesh Yadav striking in the second over of the day to dismiss night-watchman Craig Overton.

India didn’t bowl a no-ball either in the first 26 overs of their innings and the first spells from Umesh and Jasprit Bumrah had squeezed England into scoring just 25 runs from the first 13 overs.

England’s 86 runs in the session has left them trailing India’s first-innings total by just 52 with conditions only expected to get better for batting.

Chief scores

India: 191
England: 139/5 at lunch (Ollie Pope 38 n.o, Jonny Bairstow 34 n.o, Umesh Yadav 3/49). (Agencies)