IMAGES from Day 2 of the 1st Test between England and India at Headingley in Leeds on Saturday.
Jasprit Bumrah displayed his spine-tingling genius after Rishabh Pant unfurled an audacious hundred, but England batters, led by centurion Ollie Pope, produced their own parade to reach 209 for three at the end of the Day 2 of the first Test in Leeds on Saturday.
Pope (100 batting) and Harry Brook (0) were at crease when the stumps were drawn with England whittling down India's lead to 262 after the visitors made 471 in their first innings.
Brook would certainly thank his stars as a pull off Bumrah, which was caught by Mohammed Siraj, was adjudged no-ball in the last over of the day.
It was a sliver of example how the Indian pacer tormented the hosts' batters.
England did not quite solve the Bumrah puzzle but they showed enough spunk to bat through the storm.
Pope can be a lovely batter to watch in full flow, but here the Surrey man sussed up the conditions and the general quality of the attack to a nicety to tweak his batting.
Once he survived a massive shout for leg-before perpetuated by Mohammed Siraj, relying mainly on his bottom hand to collect runs with cuts and dabs through point, gully regions.
Pope's partner Ben Duckett (62 off 94 balls), with whom he added 122 runs for the second wicket, had big slices of fortunes too.
He was dropped on 15 by Ravindra Jadeja at backward point off Bumrah, but the England batters were good enough to put those thorny moments behind them to cash in on the profligacy of Bumrah's colleagues in the pace department.
Siraj and Prasidh Krishna, a hard length bowler, were eager to discover the mandatory fuller length in England, but they overreached in their effort, often giving ample space and width for batters to make some risk-free runs.
Just as the alliance was swelling, Bumrah, who was used in short, sharp bursts, returned for his third spell, and he induced an inside edge off Duckett to halt England's free walk.
It was also slightly perplexing to see India skipper Shubhman Gill delaying the introduction of Shardul Thakur into the attack, which eventually happened in the 34th over.
The move did not give any noticeable lift to India's bowling unit, and the visitors also watched in dejection of the leg-before decision against Joe Root off Siraj overturned via DRS.
But that did not deter Pope as he reached his ninth Test hundred with a cheeky single off Bumrah as sun-washed Headingley greeted the fourth hundred-maker in two days.
However, Bumrah returned at the right time to nick off Root to end a threatening 80-run stand for the third wicket.
Earlier, Jasprit Bumrah produced a moment of pure magic after Rishabh Pant unfurled a remarkable hundred, but England showed spunk to reach 107 for one at tea.
Ben Duckett (53) and Ollie Pope (48) were at the crease at the break after adding 103 runs for the second wicket as the home side now trail India's first innings total of 471 by 364 runs.
England needed a strong start but Bumrah made it impossible with a zippy first spell under grey skies in which he consumed opener Zak Crawley (4).
It was a wonderful exhibition of fast bowling and Crawley never looked settled, producing edges in his first three balls, and the fourth one proved lethal. The delivery took the outside edge of the right-hander's bat, grazed on his thigh pad and eventually nestled in Karun Nair's hands at first slip.
Ben Duckett had immense fortune too as he was dropped by Ravindra Jadeja at backward point off Bumrah when the batter was on 15.
However, the pressure Bumrah created from one end could not be sustained by his new ball partner Mohammed Siraj, who gave away far too many freebies.
Third seamer Prasidh Krishna, a hard length bowler, too erred while trying to find that fuller Leeds length, giving ample space for batters to free their arms.
Duckett and Pope were too vigilant to miss those opportunities as England scored close to five runs an over after rain held up their start for a while in the post-lunch session.
England pacer Josh Tongue picked three wickets in the post lunch session to have India all out for 471.
Tongue first had Bumrah caught out by Brook for a duck.
Ravindra Jadeja was then bowled out for 11.
Krishna was the last Indian man to fall as he was bowled by Tongue for 1.
Tongue finished with figures of 4 for 86 but the pick of the bowlers was captain Ben Stokes who had figures of 4 for 66.
Rishabh Pant unfurled a remarkable hundred while Shubman Gill carved his highest Test score but a spirited England grabbed four wickets to keep the free-flowing visitors to 454 for seven at lunch on Day 2.
Skipper Gill (147) and his deputy Pant (134) were largely untroubled as India added 95 runs to their overnight 359/3, before both the batters perished as the home bowlers regained a semblance of direction.
Ravindra Jadeja (2 batting) was at crease as Shardul Thakur (1) got out to Ben Stokes off the final ball ahead of the break.
Pant, who started the day on 65, took over the mantle from Gill, who was happy to cede the majority of the strike to his partner.
The left-hander, who milked 209 runs for the fourth wicket with Gill, was at his entertaining best, starting his cavalier ways with a stunning falling paddle off spinner Bashir behind stumper Jamie Smith, a la West Indian legend Rohan Kanhai.
Smith was in action a little later when he missed a simple stumping chance off Bashir, to get rid of Pant when the batter was at 124.
But by that time, Pant had stamped his authority on the game in his inimitable way and Bashir bore the full force of his innovative fury.
A six over mid-wicket carried him to 94, and the 90s is a rather troubled territory for Pant as he was dismissed seven times in Test cricket on that score in his career.
So, it was not really surprising to see him taking singles until he reached 99. Pant then summoned that one-handed six off Bashir to go past the 100-run mark for the seventh time in his career.
But Gill's departure, a workmanlike hag off Bashir which ended with Josh Tongue at backward square leg, gave England a slight opening.
However, the 147 was the new Indian captain's highest individual score in the red-ball format, going past the 128 he made against Australia at Ahmedabad in 2023.
Karun Nair had the finest platform imaginable to re-launch his Test career after a hiatus of eight years, but he lasted just four balls for a naught.
However, India suffered a heavy blow in the dying minutes of the pre-lunch session when Tongue trapped a shuffling Pant in front of the wicket for 134, and it tilted the session's balance ever so slightly to England's favour.
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