England beat India by 28 runs in the first Test in Hyderabad as Hartley took seven wickets on debut.
Ollie Pope and Tom Hartley engineered a remarkable turnaround as England cruised to a thrilling 28-run victory in the first Test match against India.
England's victory at Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Sunday was hailed as one of their “best ever” and gives them a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
India seemed to be in the box seat after taking a lead of 190 in their first innings, but Pope's epic 196-run innings resurrected England, who scored 420 in their second innings to roar back into the competition.
That left the hosts needing 231 to win the match, but left-arm spinner Hartley's slow 7-62 in his debut Test shattered India, who were out for 202 in an extended final session on the penultimate day.
India captain Rohit Sharma's 39 was the highest score by an Indian batsman in the second innings as the hosts lost 4-24 in a mid-innings collapse.
Ravichandran Ashwin (28) and Srikar Bharat (28) added 57 runs for the eighth wicket to try and take the match to its final day, but that was not to be.
The match went into extra half-hour of the day with both teams closing in on victory and India trying to avoid just a fourth home defeat in 47 Tests.
England captain Ben Stoke said he was “incredibly proud” of the performance.
“Before the series started, we knew what a beast India is at home, but the way we responded to being so far behind, was testament to everything we have said, lived and breathed over the last two years,” he told TNT. Sports after the game.
“We have four tests left. It's about supporting this performance now. We know that India will take revenge on us. They are an incredibly tough team, but if we can continue to stand up to them, it is a good sign for us.
“It's very early, we are very proud to be 1-0 up, but there is a long way to go.”
ENTERS! 🦁 🏴ڠڠڠڠڠڠ This team ❤️
One of our greatest victories 🙌
From a 190-run deficit to victory!
Match Center: pic.twitter.com/45dw0Qiori
– England Cricket (@englandcricket) January 28, 2024
“Impressive victory”
Former England player Graeme Swann hailed the result as a “stunning victory” for the visitors and called Pope's innings “magnificent”.
Impressive victory for England in Hyderabad. Magnificent from Ollie Pope and extraordinarily magical for Tommy Hartley. I'm very excited for the boys. @englandcricket
– Graeme Swann (@Swannyg66) January 28, 2024
Cricket writer Andy Zaltzman said it was one of England's biggest Test wins, while former fast bowler Derek Pringle made reference to England coach Brendom McCullum and said he “continues to defy convention”.
Incredible victory for England in Hyderabad. No team visiting India has overcome such a large first-overs deficit (190) to win. Bazball continues to challenge conventions…
-Derek Pringle (@derekpringle) January 28, 2024
Former England player Robert Croft said the hosts may be regretting the kind of surface they produced in Hyderabad.
“It will be interesting to see if India sticks to pitches that spin so much as they attract spinners of all levels to the game,” he said in a post on X.
The second match of the five-Test series, in Visakhapatnam, begins on Friday.
India is without the services of Virat Kohli, who announced that he would miss the first two Tests of the series due to personal reasons.
