[Watch] Ollie Pope's bat breaks while trying to drive on Day 3 of ENG vs WI 2nd Test
The toe end of England No. 3 Ollie Pope's bat broke early in his innings on day three during the second day of the second Test against the West Indies at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. A video of the same surfaced on social media as the right-handed batter called for another willow, with a piece of the broken bat lying on the pitch.
The incident occurred in the third over of the innings sent down by Alzarri Joseph as the Surrey batter drove with slightly hard hands. It initially seemed like the England vice-captain had inside-edged one onto the stumps, but Pope flashed his bat later to show that the toe end had broken.
The 26-year-old starred for the home side in the first innings with a brisk 121 following Zak Crawley's three-ball duck. He went on to add 105 with Ben Duckett and 59 with Harry Brook before falling to Alzarri Joseph.
Contributions from Ben Stokes, Jamie Smith, and Chris Woakes propelled the Englishmen to 416 all out on day one.
Zak Crawley's unfortunate run-out brought Ollie Pope to the crease
It was Crawley's dismissal for another low score that brought Pope to the crease early again. With Duckett driving straight back down the ground, Jayden Seales got a fingertip on the ball and the West Indies appealed as it hit the stumps. Replays showed that Crawley's bat was in the air.
The visitors started the day at 351-5, trailing England by another 65 runs. Nevertheless, Chris Woakes started chipping away by getting the better of Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, and Jayden Seales while Gus Atkinson dismissed Kevin Sinclair.
However, West Indies' last pair of Joshua Da Silva and Shamar Joseph frustrated the hosts, with the latter hitting two sixes in an over bowled by Atkinson. The pair added 71 and powered the West Indies to a handy 41-run lead.