Ollie Pope Hits Seventh Test Century, Becomes First Player To Achieve THIS Unique Feat
New Delhi: It was a memorable Friday for Ollie Pope, who had managed just 30 runs in his previous four innings since taking over as England captain for the injured Ben Stokes at the series’ start. Making amends in spectacular fashion, Pope scored a century on the opening day of the third Test against Sri Lanka at his home ground, The Oval. He was on 103 from 103 balls when bad light stopped play, with England chasing a win that was nicely set up at 221-3.
It was Pope’s seventh Test century, and incredibly, each of his first seven centuries came against a different opponent—a first in 147 years of Test cricket.
Sri Lanka, two-nil down in the three-match series, blew their chance to make the most of overcast conditions and a green-tinged pitch after captain Dhananjaya de Silva called correctly at the toss.
England might have had another century-maker on Friday, as opener Ben Duckett once again gave away his wicket after reaching 86. Duckett hailed his captain Ollie Pope for shrugging off criticism from figures like former England captain Michael Vaughan, who had questioned Pope about his ability to handle the dual responsibilities of leadership and batting at No. 3.
“It shouldn’t be the case but there has been quite a lot of noise around Popey in the last couple of weeks,” Duckett told reporters after stumps.
“To block that out and score an incredible hundred was so good,” he added following Pope’s 12th first-class hundred on his Surrey home ground.
One of the few bright spots for struggling Sri Lanka was the dismissal of Joe Root for 13, just before tea. Root had scored two centuries in a 190-run victory at Lord’s in the previous Test and had set a new record for England with 34 Test centuries.
England, who have already beaten the West Indies 3-0 this season, are seeking their first clean sweep in a home Test series since 2004, when Michael Vaughan’s team won seven in a row.
Then, Ben Duckett got going, smoking successive boundaries off Milan Rathnayake. At the other end, Dan Lawrence, who was deputizing as opener for an injured Zak Crawley, made a struggling five before he misjudged a shortish-pitched delivery from Lahiru Kumara.
Ollie Pope, coming off a century against the West Indies at Trent Bridge in July, got underway with a flourish, cutting a loose ball for four and then hooking Kumara for six. Duckett moved to a brisk half-century off 48 balls, with seven boundaries.
When play got underway again under the floodlights, the umpires soon decided it was too dark to carry on and play was halted for bad light at 76-1 off 15 overs to England. After rain delayed the start, play got underway at 1410 GMT.
The next two balls, Duckett smoked Kumara for six over fine leg and high over third man. With a century in sight, Duckett was out for 86, miscuing a scoop off Rathnayake to wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal to have England at 140-2.
“When you play like that for a period you can’t really kick yourself but I’ve obviously missed out on a Test hundred there,” said Duckett.
“It might be a learning day for me but it’s a shot I’ve been thinking of playing in Test cricket for a long time. It felt like the right option.”
The far more significant breakthrough came when Joe Root fell for 13, off-set by the fact that 26-year-old Ollie Pope had already enjoyed a slice of luck with a top-edged six off Lahiru Kumara. Root hooked a delivery to fine leg, where Vishwa Fernando managed to hold onto the catch despite slipping on the wet outfield.
Pope, undefeated on 84 at tea, drove Asitha Fernando square to bring up his first Test hundred at The Oval in style. He reached it off 102 balls including 13 boundaries and two sixes.
With that hundred, Pope achieved something no other player has done before in his 49th Test match: recording his first seven tons against seven different teams.