England captain Ollie Pope showcased his class with an unbeaten 103, leading his team to a solid 221-3 on a disrupted opening day of the third and final Test against Sri Lanka at The Oval on Friday.
Pope, under scrutiny following a series of low scores, delivered a masterful innings, reaching his seventh Test century. His performance was complemented by Ben Duckett, who scored a fluent 86 despite challenging conditions, making Sri Lanka rue their decision to bowl first.
England, having already secured the series with a commanding win at Lord’s last week, faced overcast skies and early struggles. Dan Lawrence fell early, dismissed for five after attempting a risky pull shot off Lahiru Kumara, only to be caught by Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva.
Duckett adapted well to the tough batting conditions, reaching his fifty in just 48 balls before play was suspended due to bad light. The delay lasted nearly three hours, during which England were at 76-1.
Upon resumption, Duckett continued aggressively, hitting a spectacular six off Kumara. However, he was dismissed shortly after, caught by wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal off Milan Rathnayake’s delivery.
Pope, undeterred by the interruptions, began his innings with a six off Kumara and was later joined by Joe Root, who had scored two centuries at Lord’s. Root was out for 13, caught at long leg by Vishwa Fernando off Kumara.
Pope completed his century with a well-timed drive to the cover boundary, raising his bat in celebration as regular captain Ben Stokes applauded from the balcony.
The umpires again halted play due to poor light, and no further play was possible, leaving Pope and Harry Brook (eight not out) to resume on Saturday.
SCOREBOARD
ENGLAND (1st Innings):
- B. Duckett c Chandimal b Rathnayake 86
- D. Lawrence c de Silva b Kumara 5
- O. Pope not out 103
- J. Root c V. Fernando b Kumara 13
- H. Brook not out 8
EXTRAS (B-4, LB-1, W-1): 6
TOTAL (for three wickets, 44.1 overs): 221
STILL TO BAT: J. Smith, C. Woakes, G. Atkinson, O. Stone, J. Hull, S. Bashir
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-45 (Lawrence), 2-140 (Duckett), 3-191 (Root)
BOWLING:
- A. Fernando 14-0-58-0
- V. Fernando 7-0-29-0 (1w)
- Kumara 12.1-1-81-2
- Rathnayake 8-2-34-1
- Mathews 3-0-14-0
SRI LANKA:
- D. Karunaratne
- P. Nissanka
- K. Mendis
- A. Mathews
- D. Chandimal
- D. de Silva (captain)
- M. Rathnayake
- L. Kumara
- V. Fernando
- A. Fernando