England captain Ollie Pope roared back to form with a classy unbeaten century, guiding his team to a strong 221-3 on a rain-affected first day of the third and final test against Sri Lanka at The Oval. Pope’s innings, his seventh test century, silenced the critics who had questioned his recent form. He was joined by Ben Duckett who, in his own right, compiled a fluent 86 in overcast conditions. The innings from Duckett made Sri Lanka’s decision to bowl first appear questionable.
England, having already clinched the series with a comprehensive victory at Lord’s last week, were put into bat under gloomy skies. They lost the early wicket of Dan Lawrence, who was dismissed on five, caught by Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva after a skied pull shot off Lahiru Kumara.
Duckett, however, made light of the tricky batting conditions, reaching his half-century in just 48 balls. However, play was halted due to bad light with England on 76-1. It took nearly three hours for the match to resume.
Duckett continued to play positively, smashing a brilliant six off Kumara before attempting a similar shot off Milan Rathnayake, only to be caught by wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal.
Pope, meanwhile, signaled his intent early with a six over backward square leg off Kumara. He was joined by Joe Root, who had scored two centuries at Lord’s, but the former captain could only manage 13 runs before he was caught at long leg by Vishwa Fernando off Kumara.
Undeterred, Pope continued his assault, driving Asitha Fernando sweetly to the cover boundary to reach his century. He raised his bat to all corners of the ground as regular captain Ben Stokes stood to applaud him on the team balcony.
The umpires were forced to take the players off the field again due to poor light, and play was eventually abandoned for the day, leaving Pope and Harry Brook (eight not out) to resume on Saturday.
