Ollie Pope takes over from Ben Duckett as England pile on the ache for Ireland
Innings break England 524 for 4 dec (Pope 205, Duckett 182, Crawley 56, Root 56) lead Ireland 172 (McCollum 36, Broad 5-51) by 352 runs
It was a double-century and out for Ollie Pope – and England – as Ben Stokes declared with a first-innings lead of 352 to present his bowlers one other run at Ireland early within the ultimate session on the second day of their Test at Lord’s.
Pope had returned from the tea interval on 197 not out and, having moved to 199, it was in true Bazball fashion that handed 200, skipping down the pitch to dispatch Andy McBrine down the bottom for six. It was the quickest Test double-hundred scored in England, coming off 207 deliveries. Pope fell subsequent ball, nonetheless, once more shimmying out of his crease as McBrine tossed the ball up outdoors off stump and Lorcan Tucker whipped off the bails, prompting the declaration.
Having reached his half-century simply earlier than tea, Joe Root fell simply three balls into the night session, bowled by McBrine as he got here down the pitch to at least one that turned and slid between bat and pad and into the stumps.
Pope noticed Ben Duckett‘s 182 and raised it. Duckett had scored 101 within the morning session and resumed after lunch on 161, with Pope poised at 97 not out. It took the alternative of a misshapen ball for Ireland to problem Engalnd’s batters – and take away Duckett, who fell attempting to chop Graham Hume’s supply on a size and angling in to discover a thick outdoors edge and ricochet onto off stump.
By that stage Pope had comfortably navigated the six balls he confronted throughout two overs after the interval to carry up his ton by advancing and whipping McBrine previous mid-on for a single.
Duckett helped himself to 14 off three deliveries in McBrine’s subsequent over, together with a slog-sweep for six, however then he was gone to the alternative ball which additionally saved Pope and Joe Root on their toes early on because the Ireland bowlers discovered extra motion.
But the England duo settled right into a 50-run stand off 49 balls with Root, who confronted 15 balls for his first 5 runs, contributing 16 off 23. From there they discovered their stride with Pope and Root every peeling a six off McBrine, Pope down the bottom and Root large over mid-on.
The first of back-to-back fours off Curtis Campher took Pope previous the 150-mark in 166 balls, equalling the file for the quickest 150 in Tests at Lord’s held by Sir Donald Bradman and which Duckett had smashed by reaching the milestone at a-run-a-ball within the morning session.
Pope additionally equalled Duckett’s earlier feat of including 100 runs in a session shortly earlier than tea, however there was nonetheless time for Root to carry up his half-century and take England previous the 500-mark with a pulled 4 off Campher. Next ball, a leg-side single left Root with 11,000 Test runs to his title on the interval.
Nearly seven years after making his Test debut and having spent six of these years on the outer, Duckett has cemented his place on the prime of England’s batting order and now a spot on the Lord’s honours board with a century towards Ireland, his second ton in six months and first on house soil following his 107 towards Pakistan at Rawalpindi in December.
He and Pope placed on 252 runs for the second wicket. They added 173 runs from 29 overs within the day’s first session however with an air of serenity, solely often wanting like they had been attempting to make issues occur and in any other case cashing in on some free Ireland bowling.
England resumed on 152 for 1, simply 20 runs in arrears with Duckett on 60 and Pope on 29. Duckett minimize the primary ball of the day, from Graham Hume, for 4 to set the tone and reached his ton off 106 balls together with 14 fours. Two balls later, Pope introduced up his fifty from 64 balls by way of a single off a vanguard in the direction of cover-point.
Pope survived an Ireland assessment for lbw when debutant Fionn Hand struck him simply above the knee roll with a ball that got here again sharply as ball-tracking confirmed it was going simply excessive of center stump and Hand needed to be happy with a maiden, one among solely 4 for Ireland’s bowlers all innings with two apiece for him and Adair because the mismatch between the 2 sides was laid naked.
Valkerie Baynes is a common editor, ladies’s cricket, at ESPNcricinfo