Ollie Pope, the stand-in skipper for England made headlines in the ongoing Test against Sri Lanka. He was struggling to get going in the Test series as he had only managed 30 runs in 4 innings but in the 1st innings of the last and ongoing Test, Pope led from the front.
Pope scored 154 runs in the 1st innings and by doing so he became the first batter in the history of Test cricket to score his first seven centuries against different nations, commendable right?
The 26-year-old scored his first century against South Africa in 2022, his second century came against New Zealand in 2022 and in the same year he plundered a century against Pakistan. His fourth ton was against Ireland at Lords as he scored 205 runs, and it was his first-double century as well.
The number fifth was against India in Hyderabad as he scored 196 runs, helping his side to clinch the game by 28 runs. His sixth ton came against West Indies in the last month. And his seventh was against Sri Lanka as he ended his poor phase in style.
Pope, who was under the radar of criticism because of the low scores silenced his critics in style as he was lauded by his teammate, Ben Duckett.
“If a (number) three doesn’t score runs in two games, there shouldn’t be criticism. We all knew his (Pope’s) ability and skill, he just proved that today,” Duckett told
the BBC
He was also frustrated at the weather conditions at the Oval.
“It’s frustrating (about the weather). We probably got more cricket than we should’ve. It was really dark, unfortunately there’s not much we can do.”
The match is still going on. England after being put to bat first scored 325 runs by the virtue of Pope’s century and Duckett’s 86 runs.
Vishwa Fernando and Lahiru Kumara took two wickets apiece while the pick of the bowlers was Milan Rathnayake who took 3 wickets.
At stumps of day 2, Sri Lanka amassed 211 runs at the loss of five wickets. Pathum Nissanka scored 64 runs. While the middle-order cut the sorry figure, the captain Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis punished the English bowlers. Both batters will start the day 3 for Sri Lanka, Silva will continue his innings from 65 while Mendis is unbeaten at 54.
While the series has been sealed by the home side, Sri Lanka still has a chance to win this ongoing Test and keep their win record at Oval, intact.
For the home side, Olly Stone picked up two wickets, while the debutant Josh Hull and Chris Woakes took one wicket apiece.
After this Test series, England will face Australia in the ODI and T20 series and after that the side will travel to Pakistan to play the three-match Test series. The venue is yet to be decided. Mark Wood won’t be available but only time will tell if Stokes is fit to play against Pakistan.
