Pope c Pant b Krishna 106 Kiss of death for England? Pope batted brilliantly yesterday but falls just 13 balls into the day’s play. It really was a ball he should have thrashed away for four as Krishna was short and wide but his cut finds the edge, with Pant gratefully accepting the catch. He will be so angry with himself as that should have been four, not a wicket. Big early breakthrough for India. FOW 225/4
As expected India’s gun bowler Jasprit Bumrah will open up from the other end. He strays onto Pope’s pads though and England’s number three flicks away behind square for four. The last three balls; 4,6,4.
Just the one more run comes from the over. It is very cliche to say it (I apologise!) but this first hour feels so important. If India go bang bang, England are suddenly under big pressure. If these two get going, the runs will flow very quickly.
Prasidh Krishna will start with the ball for India today. Although the sun is out, there are some dark clouds in the distance. Let’s hope they stay away. Pope will face up to the first ball of the day and he gets the first run of the day off it with a single through square leg. Very similar to the run he got yesterday to go to 100.
Brook flirts with danger, going after a wider delivery which just misses the edge of his bat. He received a huge slice of fortune in the final over yesterday and will want to cash in on that luck. He gets off the mark and he could not have asked for a better ball to do so. Krishna is way too short and wide and Brook easily cuts away for four, racing across the wickets to the boundary.
