IND suffer first 100+run lead home loss as Pope & Hartley script history

Trailing by 190, England needed a masterclass innings from one or two batters, and that is what they got from Ollie Pope. Mind you, he had an average of 16 in the second innings before this innings against India. With the help of his monumental 196-run knock and some handy lower-order partnerships, England scored 420 runs and set a target of 231. 

Tom Hartley, who had a horrendous outing in the first innings, overcame his struggles to shine on debut. His 7/62 in the second innings helped England win the first Test.  

Here are a few records registered by Pope and England:

An innings to remember

- Pope's tally of 196 runs in the second innings is the highest for an England batter in Asia. Previously, Sir Alastair Cook held the record in 2012 against India in Ahmedabad. 

- In Tests in India, only three English batters have a better score against India than Pope. Joe Root leads the list with 218 in 2021, Mike Gatting with 207 in 1985, and Graeme Fowler with 201 in the same match in Chennai. 

- He scored those runs at a strike rate of 70.5. Among visiting batters who have faced 150+ balls in the second innings against India, Shahid Afridi (141 at 73.8) in 1999, Brendon McCullum (225 at 73.05) in 2010, Saeed Anwar (188* at 72.6) in 1999, and Kamran Akmal (109 at 70.8) in 2005, had a higher strike rate than Pope.

- Among the SENA country batters, only one batter has scored more runs in an innings than Pope in Asia in the second innings, and it is only fitting that he is sitting in England's camp as their head coach. McCullum scored 225 at the same venue back in 2010. 

- In his innings of 196, Pope swept 34 balls (all kinds of sweeps) against the spinners, the most by a batter against India in an innings since 2010. 

- In this innings, Pope scored 77 runs against Ravindra Jadeja, the most by a batter against the bowler in an innings. 

- In total, Pope scored 131 runs against Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin (54) in this innings, the most by a batter in an innings against these two bowlers. Adding to his one run against Ashwin from the first innings, Pope scored 132 runs against two in the entire match, the most by any batter against these two bowlers in a Test. 

- Only two England batters have individually outscored a higher second innings deficit (third innings) in Tests. Dennis Amiss scored an unbeaten 262 against West Indies in 1974 while trailing by 230, and Cook, against Australia in 2010, scored 235* when trailing by 221. 

A debut to remember

-Hartley’s spell of 7/62 is now the second-best spell for a spinner on debut against India. He is only the fourth spinner in Tests to bag a five-for on debut against India. 

Overall, his spell was the fifth-best against India in Tests. Lance Klusener, in 1996, picked up 8/64 in Kolkata, the best against India. 

-For England, he now has the fifth-best spell overall and second-best by a spinner. Only James Langridge (7/56) against the West Indies in 1933, had a better spell on debut as an England spinner.

-His match spell of 9/193 is the second-best by a spinner against India. Jason Krejza had picked up 12/358 in 2008. 

For England, only two spinners have better match figures on debut. Charles Marriott (11/96) against the West Indies in 1933 and Robert Berry (9/116) against the same Windies in 1950 are the two spinners. 

-Klusener (8/64), in 1996, is the only visiting bowler to have a better spell than Hartley in the fourth innings.   

A loss for the ages

-In a home Test, this is the first time India lost a game after taking a 100+ runs lead. Their previous highest losing lead was 65 against Australia in 1964 in Chennai. 

-Overall, in Tests, only against Sri Lanka in 2015, India had taken a higher lead to lose the game. They lost the game with a 192-run lead.   

-There have been four matches where a home team has lost with a higher lead than India in this match. 

South Africa in the 2000 match, batted first and scored 248, and England declared their first innings on zero. Later, the Proteas forfeited their second innings. With a target of 248, England chased it with two wickets in hand. 

-In Tests in home conditions, this was only the fourth match where India lost after scoring 400+ in the first innings. India had scored 406 against the West Indies in 1975 in Wankhede, 424 against Australia in 1998 in Bengaluru, and 449 against Pakistan in 2005 in Bengaluru. 

The total of 436 is India’s second-highest first innings total in a losing cause at home. 

India's formidable spin duo rattled

- Jadeja conceded 131 runs in this innings. It is the first time he has conceded 100+ runs in the second innings of a home Test.

In fact, the 131 runs that he gave away are the most he has leaked in an innings of a home Test. 

- Ashwin and Jadeja conceded 100+ runs in the second innings for the first time in a home Test. 

Irrespective of the presence of these two, the last time two Indian spinners conceded 100+ runs in the same innings was in 2012 against the same team in Ahmedabad. 

Overall, there have been only six innings in which two Indian spinners have leaked 100+ runs in the second innings of a home Test, and all six have been in this century.

England mounts a massive total

- England's total of 420 is the fifth highest by a visiting team in the second innings against India in this century. The last team to post a 400+ total in the second innings was 463 by West Indies in Kolkata (2011). 

- They scored those 420 runs at a run rate of 4.11. In the second innings, only three other visiting teams have scored at a better run rate in an inning of 250+ runs. West Indies (5.3) in 1984, Pakistan (5.2) in 2005, and West Indies (4.3) in 1974. 

Few other stats

- England's partnerships between wickets (6-8) stitched 50+ stands, making it only the third innings in which India conceded three 50+ partnerships for these wickets. 

The two others came in away matches, one against West Indies in 1962 (Kingston) and the other in 2014 against Australia in Melbourne. This was the first instance at home. 

- Jasprit Bumrah (4/25) became the sixth Indian pacer to bag a four-for in the second innings against England at home. Others on the list:

-Munaf Patel - 4/25 in 2006 (Mohali)

-Kapil Dev - 5/70 in 1981 (Wankhede)

-Madan Lal - 5/23 in 1981 (Wankhede)

-Karson Ghavri - 5/33 in 1977 (Wankhede)

-Nazir Ali - 4/83 in 1934 (Chennai)