England are on the cusp of a comprehensive victory over Ireland in their one-off Test at Lord’s, with Ollie Pope taking centre stage on day two, hitting a maiden Test double hundred.
Pope brought up the milestone with a sublime six struck over wide long-on, the third – to go with 22 boundaries – of his sparkling innings, before being stumped next ball to prompt England’s declaration on 524-4, with a massive lead of 352.
Still with over two hours of the evening session to be played, England couldn’t quite wrap things up inside two days but debutant Josh Tongue did claim a maiden Test wicket on his way to three for the innings as Ireland closed on 97-3, on the brink of a resounding defeat – still some 255 runs behind.
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Tongue (3-27) trapped Peter Moor (11) lbw with his very first delivery and ended the same over with the scalp of skipper Andy Balbirnie (2), nicking off to Jonny Bairstow.
Tongue returned to bounce out Paul Stirling (15) after Ireland’s plight had been made worse still by the retirement of James McCollum (12) to an ankle injury while batting. It is unclear whether the opener will be fit enough to resume his innings on day three.
Duckett begins onslaught with first-session century
Earlier, Ben Duckett (182) fell 18 runs short of a fine double hundred himself, bowled by Graham Hume (1-85), but not before he became the first batter since 1924 to score 100 runs before lunch in a Lord’s Test.
Duckett followed in the footsteps of the great Sir Jack Hobbs as he progressed his overnight score of 60 to 161 with another stunning showcase of attacking strokeplay.
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Pope matched the feat in the afternoon session, jumping from 97 not out to 197, before then notching the record-fastest double hundred on home soil, coming off just 207 balls – 13 fewer deliveries than it took Sir Ian Botham to reach the milestone against India in 1982.
Duckett and Pope put on 252 together for the second wicket, though it all could have looked very different, with the former very nearly run out for 66 early in the day – Duckett, stranded halfway down the pitch, relieved ultimately to see Harry Tector miss with his shy at the stumps.
England soon overhauled Ireland’s first-innings total of 172, Duckett with a beautiful straight drive to nutmeg Pope at the non-striker’s end on its way to the boundary as the scoring rate started to rapidly accelerate.
Duckett brought up a second Test ton, and first at home, off 106 balls, while Pope – who had looked a little edgy with the bat early in the morning – found his fluency after passing fifty and was suddenly three shy of a century by lunch.
Pope swiftly went through to three figures in the second over upon the resumption, but Duckett finally departed, bowled by Hume, as a change in ball also brought about a change in fortunes for Ireland.
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Pope double ton sets up England declaration
Batting, all of a sudden, looked much tougher, with the normally effortless Joe Root (56) scratching around for his first few runs in among several shouts for lbw.
But, once he and Pope had safely navigated the testing spell, England once more stepped on the gas, the pair adding 77 in eight overs across the drinks break.
They both launched off-spinner Andy McBrine into the stands in the same over, while a glorious straight drive from Pope, charging Curtis Campher, took him to a Test-best of 150.
The 100 partnership was reached in just 79 balls, the third-fastest ever for England, while Pope ticked off his century for the session and Root ticked over 11,000 Test runs with the final ball before tea, having also brought up his fifty.
With England’s score already in excess of 500, and with a sizeable lead, an evening declaration was expected and wasn’t long in arriving as Root was bowled by McBrine (2-99) in the first over back and Pope was stumped off the spinner immediately after notching his double ton.
Ireland certainly enjoyed their batting more second time around, with Harry Tector (33no) and Lorcan Tucker (21no) playing nicely in the late evening sun, on a belting track, but Tongue’s maiden Test wickets, as well as McCollum’s injury, still has the visitors staring at a heavy defeat on Saturday.
Duckett: Lord’s hundred ‘hasn’t sunk in yet’
England opener Ben Duckett on his second Test hundred, and first at home:
“A hundred at Lord’s is special. I know everyone says it, but it hasn’t really sunk in yet.
“Batting with Ollie Pope was a breeze, really enjoyable to be at the other end watching him play.
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“It has been a pretty crazy journey for me. I have only played (Tests) abroad, so even fielding here, soaking up the atmosphere, and then scoring a hundred is what I have dreamt of. I am so happy I managed to get there.
“[This summer] is only going to get harder, it’s going to be a tougher summer than this week.
“For me personally, runs is form and that’s what I’ve been trying to do at the start of the summer for Notts and taking it to here.)
“I can’t wait to take on the Aussies in a few weeks.”
Butcher: Lord’s Test is a mismatch
Sky Sports Cricket’s Mark Butcher:
“It will have done the confidence of some of those batters the world of good, including Duckett with his first Test hundred in England, even though the game feels like it lacks a bit of edge.
“The sides are so mismatched. What will disappoint Ireland is their first-innings batting, knocked over for 172 when the surface was good.
“Tongue looked very good, going into the pitch but also getting the ball up there and nipping it around while it was still new, so that is a real plus.
“England just continue to reinforce the fact that the positive way they are playing is successful and that they are not going to change for anything.”
Watch day three of the LV= Insurance Test between England and Ireland at Lord’s, live on Sky Sports Cricket on Saturday, with coverage starting at 10.15am and play getting under way from 11am.
