Headingley Test | Pope rides his luck as England hits back after Pant’s ton

Whether India lives to regret the fact that it added just 112 runs to its day one total of 359 for three in the first Test against England at Headingley will eventually depend on Jasprit Bumrah’s golden arm, for the 31-year-old magician has this remarkable ability to inflate the value of every total his team makes.

And on Saturday (June 22, 2025), he tried his utmost to make India’s 471 seem even bigger and to erase the memory of his side losing the last seven wickets for just 41 runs.

The pacer partly succeeded (13-2-48-3), but a lack of pressure from the other end and some bad catching ensured that by stumps, England had cut the deficit to 262, reaching 209 for the loss of three wickets.

The three strikes

Bumrah sent Zak Crawley back in the very first over, with Karun Nair completing a fine catch at first slip. He dismissed a well-set Ben Duckett (62, 94b, 9×4) by forcing him to chop one on, excised Joe Root (28, 58b, 2×4) and even had Harry Brook caught in the last over only for it to be a no-ball.

But both Duckett and Ollie Pope were dropped off Bumrah, the opener by the usually safe Ravindra Jadeja at gully on 15 (39 for one) and the No.3 by Yashasvi Jaiswal in the cordon on 60 (129 for two). Pope duly capitalised, scoring his ninth Test hundred (100 batting, 131b, 13×4), dominating the bowling post-tea.

So clean was his stroke-making that even the sun, which had disappeared during a 40-minute rain delay after India’s innings and played hide and seek thereafter, burst out again in glorious fashion.

Will this hopeful message that both scoreboard pressure and Indian bowling’s overall threat could be countered on a strip still good to bat reach his teammates’ ears? Sunday (June 22, 2025) will tell.

Earlier, India’s overnight batters Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant hardly appeared in any discomfort. Skipper Ben Stokes mixed things up, employing two short-covers and a silly mid-off to entice Gill into a drive. It was to the Indian skipper’s credit that he refused to fall into the trap.

Pant, at the other end, resembled an on-and-off volcano with its layered eruptions. He paddled Shoaib Bashir and spanked him for a six over square leg to move into the 90s, but quietened down and rotated the strike thereafter. On 99, however, a one-handed six over cow corner off Bashir brought him his seventh Test century.

The subsequent celebration would have made an Olympic gymnast proud — so perfect was his somersault, with a landing stable and controlled, letting his stout body absorb the impact and maintain terrific balance.

However, Gill’s dismissal by Bashir — caught at deep backward square-leg for 147 (227b, 19×4, 1×6) — precipitated a collapse. Karun’s first visit to the crease as an international batter in eight years and three months lasted 13 minutes and four balls.

Off an inspired Stokes (20-2-66-4), Pope caught Karun superbly at short extra-cover, with a leap to his left in true football goalkeeper style, pushing off from the contralateral leg (opposite side) to get the perfect lift and velocity.

Pant (134, 178b, 12×4, 6×6) was trapped in front by Josh Tongue, while Shardul Thakur paid the price for a reckless shot at the stroke of lunch. It was not long before a potential 600-plus total shrunk badly.