Pope and Hartley shine as England Cricket team engineers thrilling victory over India

HYDERABAD: Ollie Pope and Tom Hartley teamed up to pull off an impressive win in Hyderabad, as England stunned India in the thrilling opening test on Sunday (Jan 28). Their dynamic brand of cricket has reignited excitement for the format and left fans in awe of their performance.

England's thrilling 28 run victory, that came in an extended final session on the penultimate day at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, will go down as one of their finest away wins ever.

Under captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon 'Baz' McCullum, England have championed a fearless brand of cricket that puts entertainment over outcome over the last couple of years.

Their 'Bazball' approach faced its toughest test against India, who have not lost a test series at home since 2012.

India had lost only three of their previous 46 home tests and, for the first two days of the match, England looked ill-equipped to change that trend as they conceded a huge lead of 190.

To make it worse for the tourists, their lead spinner Jack Leach was hobbling having hurt his knee twice during fielding.

England vice captain Pope then conjured up arguably the best knock by a touring batter in India, smashing an epic 196 to propel England to 420 in the second innings.