Ollie Pope led the way with 121 as England moved into a dominant position on day one of the second Test against the West Indies at Trent Bridge.
A quick-fire 105 stand between Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope helped England recover from the first-over loss of Zak Crawley and the home side reached the lunch break on 134-2 as the West Indies struggled to make the most of choosing to bowl first.
Joe Root and Harry Brook both fell in the afternoon session too, but the tourists were made to pay for twice dropping Pope as he went on to reach a sixth Test century and his first since a sparkling 196 which helped set up victory in the first Test against India in Hyderabad back in January.
England’s vice-captain, who made 145 on the same ground against New Zealand two years ago as well, was eventually removed five overs after tea, with skipper Ben Stokes’ first half-century of the summer helping his side on their way to reaching a first-innings total of 416 before being all out just before the scheduled close.
West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite could hardly have wished for a better start after winning the toss as Alzarri Joseph struck third ball, tempting England opener Crawley into edging the third ball of the day to slip fielder Alick Athanaze after a fiery opening two deliveries.
But Nottinghamshire batter Duckett spearheaded a recovery from that early loss on his home ground, taking a particular liking to the bowling of Jayden Seales with a flurry of boundaries as the seamer’s opening two overs went for 28 runs.
Together, he and Pope helped England race to 50 in just 26 balls at a strike rate of 190.30 and the left-hander passed the milestone himself in 32 balls in the 10th over, doing so with the 11th four of his innings, down to third.
After a great start, Ben Duckett is finally dismissed before he could reach a century by Shamar Joseph as England make positive start against West Indies in the second Test
There was even a stage where it looked as if Duckett might be on course to break Gilbert Jessop’s 122-year-old record for England’s fastest Test century, but his innings came to an end on 71 from 59 balls, including 14 fours, when he became Shamar Joseph’s first scalp of the series after edging the seamer to Jason Holder.
The introduction of spinner Kevin Sinclair, in for the ill Gudakesh Motie, helped slow the run-rate for England as well following Duckett’s dismissal, with Pope being dropped on 47 from a difficult chance for Athanaze off Seales in the final over before lunch.
England’s vice-captain would go on to reach his 13th Test 50 two overs into the afternoon session, but a change of ball after the original one went out of shape yielded an immediate result for the West Indies.
It was Seales who got the wicket of Joe Root, sending down a couple of testers followed by a horrible shot from the Yorkshireman which went up high and dropped for Alzarri Joseph to eventually make the catch.
Pope, meanwhile, was put down on 54 in the 31st over as neither Holder nor Kavem Hodge could make the catch in the slips and then Harry Brook, who had come out firing with five early fours, was put down at gully by Athanaze off Alzarri Joseph on 24 fours overs later.
West Indies spinner Kevin Sinclair pulled out his signature somersault after dismissing England’s Harry Brook in the second Test at Trent Bridge
Sinclair eventually accounted for Brook (36 from 34 balls) in the 42nd over though as the batter attempted a scoop-sweep but got the toe-end of the bat on the ball and popped it up to short leg Kirk McKenzie, ending a fourth-wicket stand of 59 in the process and allowing Sinclair the chance to peel off his signature somersault celebration to the delight of the Trent Bridge crowd.
Yet Pope remained unbowed and, after being denied reaching it with a four at the start of the 47th over due to the runs being given as leg-byes, passed the century mark by pulling Seales square to the boundary with his 14th four of his innings to that point.
He and skipper Ben Stokes saw England through to 259-4 at tea, but their partnership was ended on 80 in the 58th over as Hodge clung on for a superb catch after Pope slashed at a delivery from Alzarri Joseph.
Stokes ploughed on to reach 50 for the 32nd time in Tests five overs later, only to depart for 69 when he pulled Hodge to substitute fielder Jeremiah Lewis, on for the cramp-stricken Shamar Joseph, on the square-leg boundary to become the spinner’s first wicket at this level.
The slow-left armer claimed his second in the 78th over, with Jamie Smith unable to build on his impressive debut half-century after holing out to Holder at long-on for 36 just one ball after clattering a six back down the ground.
Sinclair got in on the act as well, accounting for Gus Atkinson (2), and the West Indies taking the new ball in the 87th over saw Seales and Alzarri Joseph remove Chris Woakes (37) and Shoaib Bashir (5) respectively, with the tourists to begin the reply in the morning on day two.
England centurion Ollie Pope, speaking to Sky Sports Cricket:
“It was a really good day, but we also feel we left a couple out there which is a really good sign for us as a batting unit.
“When you get put into bat and put 416 on the board, you can’t complain about that.
“The pressure Ben Duckett put back on the West Indies bowlers was class and that took the pressure out of it for me.”
Ollie Pope reflects on England’s strong start to their second Test against West Indies and dissects his superb performance that saw him reach a century
Former West Indies bowler Ian Bishop, speaking on Sky Sports Cricket:
“I would say it’s a day which, from a West Indies perspective, could have been better but could have been worse.
“They’ll be happy to have taken all 10 English wickets today, but they’ll be disappointed at the run-rate which they allowed England to fly off to and continue with through the day.
“With a couple of batters who got set and a hundred for Pope, I think England will say maybe we gave away two or three more wickets than we should have.”
Watch day two of the second Test between England and West Indies, from Trent Bridge in Nottingham, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10am on Friday (first ball to be bowled at 11am).
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