Jimmy Neesham predicts Ollie Pope's score in his debut innings and falls flat on his face

Pope was drafted into the team on the back of a fabulous County season.

Published - 11 Aug 2018, 17:45 IST | Updated - 11 Aug 2018, 17:45 IST

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The second Test between England and India started off in the host favour as they asked the Indian team to bat first on a wicket that looked good for batting but were certainly in trouble with overcast conditions. The conditions and movement from the pitch helped English bowlers restrict India to a mere first innings total of 107 runs. Once again, it was the skipper Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin who showed some character and were eventually able to score twenties.

At the start of the day 3, England lost both their openers as Keaton Jennings missing a straight ball from Mohammed Shami, whereas Alastair Cook got out to a remarkable delivery from Ishant Sharma. With this, the middle-order has been exposed once again to the new ball and it will be interesting to see as how well they adapt to the conditions.

Debutant Ollie Pope

Ollie Pope, who is making his debut looks a very promising player and his average in the first-class cricket speaks volumes of the character this 20-year-old carries. Averaging just over 63, he has already scored 4 centuries in his short first-class cricket, Pope in his brief stay looked rock solid to go against the Indian bowling attack.

In his first Test innings, he was able to hit two delightful boundaries. His intent pretty much justifies the statement made by Kiwi star Jimmy Neesham, who predicted that Pope will score a hundred in his debut game.

Neesham took to Twitter to express his thoughts and said, “Pope hundred on debut. You heard it here first #ENGvsIND.”

Here’s The Tweet

Pope hundred on debut. You heard it here first #ENGvsIND
— Jimmy Neesham (@JimmyNeesh) August 11, 2018

Here are some of the replies supporting his claims:

India : Making the career of debutant since 1932
— Bhangari Dada (@Bhangari_dada) August 11, 2018

Delete!
— Sumeet Bhagat (@OneRambo8) August 11, 2018

Pope look solid , won’t be surprised if he score double century.
— Athar (@athar8822) August 11, 2018

Yeah quite a distinct possibility this.
Indians do love to give a hundred to a debutant, just so that he can settle into his career you know👍
— Prasanna Khare (@Prasanna_0000) August 11, 2018

Pope soon got out for the score of 28 being trapped in front of the wickets by Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya. He was standing back in his crease and the ball skidded onto his pads and even a review couldn’t save him.