It was one of those crisp Manchester mornings where everything feels possible. By lunch on day three England had eased to 332 for 2, only 26 shy of India’s 358, thanks to an unbroken 135-run stand between Joe Root and Ollie Pope. Two wickets down, plenty of time, and a new ball waiting in six overs: that’s the simple scoreboard story.
The headline act, again, was Root. On 31 he slipped past Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis to move into third on the all-time Test run list. “It’s lovely, of course, but you try not to think about numbers while you’re out there,” he said the night before, and it looked that way. Unbeaten on 63 at the interval, he needs 57 more to draw level with Ricky Ponting; Sachin Tendulkar sits a little further off, but the mere fact we’re counting tells its own tale.
Pope matched him stride for stride. The Surrey right-hander breezed to a 103-ball fifty—his 25th score above fifty in Tests—and walked in on 70 not out, full of scampering singles and wristy drives. The pair’s sixth century partnership under Ben Stokes highlights what England are trying to do: set the tempo, make the bowlers think twice, keep the fielders twitchy.
India had moments. Mohammed Siraj drew a leaping splice from Root on 22; Pope, calling loudly, dragged him through for a scrambled single as Ravindra Jadeja’s shy missed the stumps. Later, on 48, Pope edged debutant seamer Anshul Kamboj, only for substitute keeper Dhruv Jurel—standing up to the stumps—to parry a difficult chance. Plenty of oohs, no breakthrough. Siraj’s frustration showed when he slung the ball for four needless overthrows, a small detail yet a telling one.
The tourists did bowl a tighter length than on Thursday, a fact not lost on their coach Rahul Dravid, who muttered at the boundary rope, “We’re in the game if we hold that line.” A fresh Dukes will be available almost immediately after the break; that, and fresher legs, offers India a slim lever to pry loose the Root-Pope grip.
For England the equation feels clearer: push past 358, bat once if they can, and press for a series-clinching victory. A long way to go, plenty that can still wobble, but the morning belonged to two men who hardly seemed to break sweat.
