Pope, Duckett shine on truncated opening day

Ollie Pope's seventh Test ton and a breezy 79-ball 86 from Ben Duckett led England's dominance on the first day of the third Test against Sri Lanka at The Oval on Friday (September 6). Only 4.1 overs were bowled after Tea with England rattling off 27 runs that included Pope's century milestone before bad light forced the umpires to take the players off for one last time in the day. It was a day that belonged to England's stand-in captain who returned to form in style with a cracking hundred at his home ground. He also became the first batter in the format to have each of his first seven centuries against different opponents.

Given the conditions on offer, Sri Lanka would rue their