Ollie Pope, Ben Duckett display bazball as England post huge total on opening day of Trent Bridge Test

ENG vs WI 2nd Test Day 1 — Image Source : GETTY Ollie Pope during the second Test match against West Indies in Nottingham on July 18, 2024

England dominated the opening day of the second Test match against West Indies at Trent Bridge on Thursday, July 18. Ollie Pope recorded a brilliant century as the hosts displayed aggressive cricket to post a 416 total at the end of Day 1's play in Nottingham.

After being forced to bat first, England lost their opener Zak Crawley to Alzarri Joseph in the very first over. But Ben Duckett and Pope gave the Three Lions a sensational start by adding 105 runs for the second wicket in the first 19 overs.

Duckett smashed a 32-ball fifty as England reached the 50-run mark in just 4.2 overs, the fastest in Test cricket history. Pope was cautious compared to Duckett but kept the scoreboard moving with regular ones and twos. Shamar Joseph gave West Indies a breakthrough with Duckett's wicket in the 19th over who scored 71 runs off just 59 balls.

Pope kept England ahead with crucial partnerships with Joe Root and Harry Brook and scored his sixth Test hundred. Alzarri ended Pope's brilliant knock of 121 off 167 balls just before the Tea and that paved the way for the Caribbean bowlers to dominate the last session.

Ben Stokes scored a crucial fifty by smashing 69 runs off 104 balls while tailenders Jamie Smith and Chris Woakes contributed with 30-plus scores to take England past 400. West Indies bowlers bowled impressively with six wickets in the third session with Alzarri taking three wickets and finishing England's first innings to 416 in 88.3 overs.

Meanwhile, Duckett smashed a 32-ball fifty, the joint-third fastest for England in Test cricket while Joe Root surpassed the legendary Sri Lankan Mahela Jayawardene's tally to reach 11,818 runs in Test cricket on Day 1 of the Trent Bridge Test.