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England 258 for four on day one
Ollie Pope (91) will resume alongside Jos Buttler (56)

Ollie Pope picked a very good time to deliver. England decided to drop a batsman for this Test since Ben Stokes is not expected to bowl; in their calculations the selectors would have considered which of two men to leave out, Zak Crawley or Pope. Crawley, despite his 76 in the first Test, was the man to stand down and that looked like the right decision as Pope played an innings of rare quality and fluency on another absorbing day. His unbeaten 91 allowed England to reach 258 for four when the umpires surprisingly detected bad light.
Initially England coupled a bold team selection with some cagey batting until Pope seized the initiative in the final session. His footwork was nimble and positive, his eye sharp. Sometimes he pulled short balls from Shannon Gabriel off the front foot; a good eye is essential to do that and his cover driving, reminiscent of Ian Bell, would have had a crowd purring. In his unbroken partnership of 136 with Jos Buttler there was no doubt who was the senior partner; for much of the time Buttler merely looked on admiringly though by the end he was also playing with renewed composure. Continue reading...