Tendulkar Trophy Test: Unbeaten fifties from Ollie Pope and Joe Root have put England on the verge of taking a first innings lead in the ongoing fourth Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Test against India at Old Trafford on Friday. At lunch, England reached 332/2 in 74 overs and trail India by just 26 runs, with Pope and Root unbeaten on 70 and 63 respectively.
It was a session where England continued to capitalise by amassing 107 runs in 28 overs, and push India further on the backfoot, as the tourists’ bowling line-up continued to miss their lengths. Pope and Root built further on the foundations laid by openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley by sharing an unbeaten 135-run stand for the third wicket.
The session began sedately before Root flicked Jasprit Bumrah for four, and was followed by him and Pope taking a boundary each off Mohammed Siraj. Root survived a run-out chance on 22 when Jadeja’s throw from point was off target. To add to India’s agony, neither mid-off or mid-on backed up to the stumps.
