England batter Ollie Pope who smashed his sixth test century in the second test against West Indies, wants the side to be aggressive while batting and believes the side could score 600 runs in a single day.
Ollie Pope was named as the Player of the match after England secured a 241-run win over West Indies at Nottingham last week where the hosts crossed the 400-run mark in both their innings.
After sealing the series win over the West Indies, England will be aiming for big scores in the third and final test which starts on Friday. On this occasion, Pope has urged his teammates to continue their aggressive batting style to continue their success road in the World Test Championship standings.
“There is a real hunger – there always is a hunger – but now there is an extra bit in that batting line-up,” Pope said. “We want to be as ruthless as we can as a batting unit, but we still play the way we do because that is our natural game. Obviously, being ruthless is being part of Test cricket as well,” he added.
600 Test runs in one day 🤔
England batter Ollie Pope certainly thinks his side is capable 😲#ENGvWI | #WTC25https://t.co/wOamoc6R3W
— ICC (@ICC) July 24, 2024
Pope’s century at Trent Bridge helped the side to score a big total of 416 on the opening day of the test. England had their new era started under coach Brendon McCullum and skipper Ben Stokes when they smashed 506 runs in the first test against Pakistan in 2022. They hold the record for the most runs in one day of test scoring 588 runs on the second day of the second test against India in 1936 and Pope believes the current side can rise above their previous record.
“I got asked on day one, ‘do you get told to play like that?’. No, we do not. It is just our natural games and the way we go about it,” Pope said. “Sometimes we might score 280-300 in a day but that is OK and probably because we are reading situations. There might also be a day where we go and get 500 to 600 at some point in the future as well. And that is a cool thing to have.”
England wrapped the series 2-0 after Shoaib Bashir picked a five-wicket haul helping the hosts to dismiss West Indies for 143 runs on day 04. The third and Final test will begin on July 26 at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
Also Check: Watch England vs West Indies 3rd Test Live Streaming Online & Channel List