Lord’s Test, Day- 2: Pope, Duckett shine as England inches closer to victory

London [UK], June 3 (ANI): Ollie Pope stole the show on the second day of the one-off Test match between England and Ireland at Lord’s.

Pope’s fastest maiden double century has brought England to the threshold of registering a dominant victory against Ireland.
The Three Lions batters followed up after putting up a mesmerising display with the ball on the first day of the Test match.

Zack Crawley and Ben Duckett provided the ideal start to the hosts with a 109-run partnership. Fionn Hand brought an end to their partnership to give Ireland a glimmer of hope.

However, Pope went on with his business and brought up a 252-run partnership. Pope was at his peak as he sent the ball across the boundary line at every single opportunity.

Ben Duckett matched Pope’s intensity and applied pressure on the Irish bowlers with his flawless technique. Pope went on to complete his maiden double century but, Duckett fell short by 18 runs.

With the new ball, Graham Hume claimed Duckett’s wicket. From that point, Joe Root and Pope laid the foundation of another massive partnership which took England’s score to 507/2. England looked in the pole position before the third session of Day-2.

However, Andy McBrine kicked off the third session on the right note for the visitors as he picked up Root’s wicket. Root departed for a score of 56(59).

Pope was next to follow. He tried to play a shot, missed the ball completely and Lorcan Tucker made no mistake behind the stumps to end an exquisite Test knock by the English batter. England decided to declare their innings at a score of 524/4.

Ireland openers PJ Moor and James McCollum stepped out to chase a massive trail of 348 runs. But before the batters could adjust to the conditions, English bowler Josh Tongue claim three wickets.

Moor was the first batter to lose his wicket as Josh Tongue trapped him right in front of the stumps. McCollum ended up hurting his ankle and he had to retire. Irish skipper Andrew Balbirnie was the key to Ireland’s success in the second innings but he failed to showcase his experience and walked back to the pavilion for a score of 2. Harry Tector and Paul Stirling tried to shift the momentum but Tongue claimed Stirling’s wicket for 15.

At the end of Day -2, Ireland registered a score of 97/3 with Harry Tector and Lorcan Tucker with scores of 33(55) and 21(35) respectively.