ENG vs SL: Duckett defends umpires' decision to halt play
England opener Ben Duckett has defended the umpires' decision to stop play twice during the opening day of the third Test against Sri Lanka, due to poor weather conditions. Despite disappointment from a large Oval crowd, Duckett stated that he saw no reason to dispute the call. He had already been dismissed after scoring a swift 86 runs, helping England reach an impressive 221 for 3 in just 44.1 overs at stumps.
Duckett believes spectators received their money's worth
Duckett expressed his belief that despite the weather interruptions, spectators had received their money's worth from the day's play. "I think they saw quite a good day's cricket in the short amount of time there was," he said. The first stoppage for bad light lasted nearly three hours and another occurred just before 6pm (local time) leading to stumps being called half an hour later.
Duckett supports umpires' decision amid challenging conditions
Duckett supported the umpires' decision to halt play due to challenging conditions. "That's living in England and playing cricket in England, they're the conditions," he said. He also noted that while spectators may want more cricket, player safety is paramount when conditions become increasingly dark and dangerous. The batters were not consulted before either stoppage, with umpires directing players from the field.
Sri Lanka's pace-heavy attack fails to capitalize on conditions
Sri Lanka, who had chosen a pace-heavy attack by dropping spinner Prabath Jayasuriya, failed to secure early wickets despite overcast skies and heavy rain. Aaqib Javed, Sri Lanka's fast-bowling coach, attributed this failure to his team being overly excited by the conditions and not executing as a result. "What we did wrong is we didn't get the good areas because there was a lot going on in the mind," he said.
Pope smashed his 7th Test ton
While Duckett starred with a brilliant 86, England's stand-in Test skipper Ollie Pope hammered a fine century. Pope was unscathed on 103 from 103 balls with the help of 13 fours and two sixes. With this, Pope became the first batter in history to get his first seven Test tons against different opponents. Meanwhile, Daniel Lawrence (5) and Joe Root (13) missed out for the hosts.
