England Vs Sri Lanka 3rd Test: Ben Duckett Hails Ollie Pope Resilience As Stand-in Skipper Hits Ton

Bad light limited play on day one of the final test at The Oval on Friday, but Pope made good on the time allowed to smash 103 runs off as many deliveries.

Standing in to lead the team with Ben Stokes out injured, Pope had failed to make more than 17 runs in any of his first four innings in the series, being limited to single figures on three occasions.

Friday's ton, though, was his third in Tests this year, after knocks of 121 versus West Indies in July and 196 in India in January. Only eight England batters have accomplished that feat, and Pope is the first to do so since Gary Ballance in 2014.

He is also the first batter in history to hit his first seven Test tons against seven different opponents, in Sri Lanka, West Indies, India, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and Pakistan.

Duckett, who himself fell short of his fourth red-ball century as he went for 86 runs off 79 balls, was delighted to see Pope quieten the doubters.

"Everyone is so happy for anyone's success in this dressing room, it's an incredible place to be," Duckett told Sky Sports.

"There was a lot of noise around Ollie. There shouldn't be but there has been and I know what it’s like at the top of the order and he's had a far better summer than I have.

"To block that out and score an incredible 100 was so good, you could see that from his emotions. We’re all extremely happy for him.

"People are paid to give their opinion, which is completely fair enough and I saw Pope say that last week.

"To go two games without a big score is not a long time and facing the new ball in England, I know how tricky it can be. For Pope to go out there and express himself at a ground that he loves, it's just credit to him."

Unbeaten on 103, Pope will return to the crease alongside Harry Brook (8) on Saturday, with England 221-3 as they chase a series whitewash.