• By Namrata Vijay
  • Sat, 07 Sep 2024 12:12 AM (IST)
  • Source:JND

ENG vs SL, 3rd Test: Ollie Pope proved his naysayers wrong by scoring a brilliant hundred and putting his team in the driver's seat on the rain-induced Day 1 of the third Test match against Sri Lanka. Playing as the stand-in skipper after replacing the injured Ben Stokes, his unbeaten knock of 103 runs was more like a personal milestone as England were 221/3 at stumps with both rains and bad light affecting most of the day.

Pope's hundred was a record-setting milestone as he had become the first batter in the history of this format to smash his first seven hundred against seven different teams. He also had scored the second fastest hundred by an England Test skipper, achieving this feat off 102 balls and is just seven balls less than Graham Gooch's record against the Men in Blue in 1990.

He had scored his seven hundred against teams like South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan, Ireland, India, West Indies, and Sri Lanka. With this hundred, he also silenced his critics, who were questioning his position in the squad due to his inconsistent performances in this format. He celebrated with a pumped fist signalling towards the dressing room and that also showed the relief on his face after bouncing back to form well in time.

England's Dan Lawrence fell cheaply as he had scored just five runs but then Ben Duckett helped the team bounce back by scoring a gritty knock of 86 runs. His aggressive style helped him play scoop shots and undercuts brilliantly against Sri Lanka's fast bowlers but he was dismissed after he mistimed a scoop shot as wicket-keeper Dinesh Chandimal took a catch in Milan Rathnayake's over and was 14 runs shy of a well-deserved hundred.

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Bad light and incessant rains delayed the match for three hours but the Ollie Pope-led side still managed to dominate in overcast conditions. Skipper Pope and Duckett took advantage of these conditions whereas the Sri Lankan seamers were seen struggling while bowling first. Lahiru Kumara starred with the ball as he registered figures of 2/81, where he dismissed batters like Joe Root and Dan Lawrence.

Pope then scored an unbeaten century with Harry Brook, who too was unbeaten at eight. England's onslaught left Sri Lanka looking for answers on a day when the pitch was bowlers-friendly. With the Ollie Pope-led side already taking an unassailable lead of 2-0 in the Test series, Pope's hundred has helped the team inch closer to a series whitewash. They are aiming to whitewash the three-match home Test series for the first time since 2004, as they had defeated West Indies 3-0 earlier this year.

The young seamer Josh Hull also made his debut and has been included in the team on the back of his brilliant first-class performances. Ex-England skipper Andrew Flintoff handed Hull his debut Test cap and also got pictures clicked with his family members before the match began. The second day will be important for both the teams where the Three Lions will aim to score as many runs as possible while Sri Lanka will look to take wickets at regular intervals.