Ollie Pope Makes History, Becomes the First Cricketer in History to Achieve Major Milestone

By Mohd Faisal Hakak On Sep 7, 2024

Ollie Pope wrote himself in the history books with an unbeaten hundred in the ongoing test match against Sri Lanka at the Oval. He brought up his ton off just 102 balls with a beautifully driven cover drive and ended Day 1 on 103 off 103 balls.

With this ton, Pope became the first player in test cricket’s 147-year history to score his first seven centuries against seven different oppositions.

Pope came into the match on the back of a dismal run of form, scoring just 30 runs in 4 innings. Ben Stokes’ injury promoted him to the captain’s armband and the 26-year-old made full use of the opportunity.

Ollie Pope – The first batter in history to score his first seven Test hundreds against different opposition.

Take a bow, Ollie 🤝 pic.twitter.com/37hYVSfiN2

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 6, 2024

Pope built a 95-run partnership with Ben Duckett, followed by a 51-run stand with Joe Root, and a 30-run partnership with Harry Brook, helping him reach the milestone.

Duckett was all praises for Pope after the end of days play and believes he has put an end to his critics following the brilliant ton.“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” Duckett said.

England finished the day on 211/3. The Three Lions are already leading the 3-match series 2-0 and are looking to do a whitewash over their opponents. They secured a 3-0 sweep over the West Indies, and are now aiming for their first home Test series clean sweep since 2004 when Vaughan led them to seven consecutive victories.

Ollie Pope’s Centuries Over the Years

Pope recorded the first of his seven centuries in January 2020 against South Africa in Gqeberha, where he scored an unbeaten 135 while batting at No.6 which is the only century he has made outside his usual No.3 position.

Pope’s second century came against New Zealand in Nottingham in January 2022, when he scored 145 and his third was against Pakistan in Rawalpindi in 2022 where he scored 108 off 104 balls.

The 26-year-old’s fourth ton came at the home of cricket, Lords against Ireland when he scored 205 off 208 balls and his fifth, which is arguably his best knock to date came against India at Hyderabad, ending with a score of 196. His sixth Test century came in July 2024, when he scored 121 runs against the West Indies in Nottingham. His most recent century, against Sri Lanka at The Oval, marked his seventh, making him one of the few players in cricket history to achieve centuries against seven different Test-playing nations.

Mohd Faisal Hakak

Mohd Faisal Hakak is a sports author from Kashmir. He likes to keep tabs on the sporting world with a keen interest in football, motorsports, NBA, and other marquee sports. He is a science graduate from Islamia College Srinagar.