Ollie Pope hit his first 50 as England captain to help the hosts reach 194-3 at tea in the third Test against Sri Lanka.
Stand-in skipper Pope, who is deputising for the injured Ben Stokes, had struggled for form during England’s opening victories in the three-test series but answered any critics with an unbeaten 84 off 85 balls at the interval.
The Surrey batsman had reached his half-century off 57 deliveries to a standing ovation at The Oval.
Ollie Pope gets his first fifty as captain👏 pic.twitter.com/f4xqZXrbY0
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) September 6, 2024
Ollie Pope stats
Pope has now posted 50 on 14 occasions in Test matches, achieving his latest in tricky conditions.
Bad light stopped play for nearly three hours earlier in the day, with tea at 5.10pm BST and a curfew of 7.30pm.
By the time he had reached 63, Pope had struck six fours, two sixes and amassed a strike rate of 94.
England vs Sri Lanka: Pope ‘easy target’
Speaking the previous day, Stokes – sidelined by a hamstring problem – said Pope’s detractors showed “English culture towards sport”.
Cashing in, in tough conditions 💪 pic.twitter.com/3o2fcsLkD1
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 6, 2024
“There’s always got to be someone in the firing line and when you’re captain you are more exposed to that,” Stokes told.
“He’s won two games out of two in charge. At the end of the day, that’s the thing that he’s concentrated on the most.
“He obviously wants to be scoring runs and leading from the front. He’s openly admitted that.
“People are very quick to jump on anything [from] someone who’s in the firing line. [With] Pope coming in and being captain while I’m injured, you can say he’s the easy target.”
