[Watch] England's Ollie Pope gets to his sixth Test century with a boundary against West Indies
England cricketer Ollie Pope brought up his sixth Test century with a boundary on the first day of the second Test match against the West Indies. The match took place on Thursday, July 18 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.
The right-handed batter came to the crease in the very first over after Alzarri Joseph dismissed Zak Crawley for a duck. He started well and built a 105-run partnership with Ben Duckett in 112 balls for the second wicket before the latter got out on 71 off 59 balls.
Pope was batting on 47 off 75 balls at the time of lunch on day one. He continued his good touch by bringing up his fifty in 81 balls. The West Indies team also gave him chances, as he was dropped twice.
The milestone moment came on the second ball of the 46th over by Jayden Seales. England’s vice-captain hit a boundary towards the deep-square area as he reached the sixth test hundred in 143 balls.
Here’s the video of the moment:
Earlier in the game, Ben Duckett scored the third-fastest half-century for England in Tests (32 balls) after Ian Botham and Jonny Bairstow. England also broke the record for the fastest team fifty (4.2 overs) in the history of Test cricket. At the time of tea on Day 1, England were 259/4 after 53 overs.
England in commanding position at tea on Day 1
England were asked to bat first and lost Zak Crawley for a duck in the first over, but they have since played an attacking brand of cricket. Ben Duckett scored a brilliant fifty, while Harry Brook played a decent inning of 36 off 34 balls.
At the time of tea, England’s captain Ben Stokes (15 off 34 balls) and vice-captain Ollie Pope (115 off 160 balls) were on the crease. England scored 125 runs in the second session and will be looking to repeat the same in the final session of the day.
In the meantime, the West Indies will want to take a few wickets quickly. They will be hopeful that Shamar Joseph, who pulled a hamstring and had to leave the field just before tea, will be back on the field.