England captain Ollie Pope hit a sensational century as England made a fine start with the bat against Sri Lanka on the opening day of a third Test at The Oval that was hit by bad light.

Approximately 25 minutes of play elapsed following the tea break before the players were taken off for bad light, but the erratic nature of the opening day did not stop Pope from chalking up a stunning century – his first as England captain.

Ben Duckett made a fluent 86 while Dan Lawrence and Joe Root were dismissed cheaply, as England reached 221-3 at the end of the day’s play.

The morning session was cut short by 40 minutes due to bad light, but that did not prevent England from taking a strong position before lunch.

Dan Lawrence (5), standing in for the injured Zak Crawley as opener, struggled to lead England into a commanding position – failing to score in his first 10 balls before misjudging Lahiru Kumara’s delivery with a top-edge which was claimed with ease by Pathum Nissanka at gully.

Duckett drove England forward with a half-century from 48 balls to put his team in a comfortable position at lunch.

Pope was at 14 not out at the end of the morning’s play, and he pushed on in the afternoon session.

Duckett and Pope combined to take England to 140-2 before the former was dismissed by Milan Rathnayake – with wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal taking a catch behind as the opener fell 14 short of his century.

Pope was in fine form despite a stop-start day of play, and eased to his half-century in the 27th over.

Joe Root could not back up his centuries from Lord’s, as he departed for 13 – with Vishwa Fernando taking a catch off Kumara.

England brought up their 200 shortly after the tea interval, as Harry Brook opened his account with a single as Pope neared his century.

He secured the 100, his seventh in Tests and first as England captain, with a two and then a boundary in the 44th over, becoming the first player to score his first seven centuries in Tests against seven different teams – as confirmed by Cricinfo.

However, celebrations did not last long as play once again stopped due to bad light, with England sitting on a comfortable 221-3 heading into day two.