Pope century gives England upper hand on Windies - 2 minutes read
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Ollie Pope’s sparkling century led England to 416 on a hectic first day of the second Test against West Indies at Trent Bridge.
Number-three Pope arrived with the hosts 0-1 and caressed 121, adding 105 for the second wicket with Ben Duckett, who scored rapidly in the first hour.
Opener Duckett may have to leave this match if his partner goes into labour and batted like a man in a hurry, hitting the first four legal deliveries he faced for four. He was threatening England’s fastest century in Test cricket until he was dismissed for 71 from 59 balls.
Pope took advantage of being dropped on 46 and 54 to reach three figures from 143 balls, before captain Ben Stokes made a welcome 69.
The skipper was one of a number of England batters who found a way to get out, particularly to off-spinner Kevin Sinclair and left-armer Kavem Hodge.
In a chaotic end to the day, England lost their last five wickets for 74 runs, West Indies took their tally of drops to four and Mark Wood survived a stumping chance off Hodge.
Wood and Chris Woakes pushed England past 400, then the latter and Shoaib Bashir fell in successive overs, Bashir to the final ball of the day.
England, 1-0 up and with the chance to win the series, are in a strong position, but one that could have been stronger.
Source: BBC News
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