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Ollie Pope’s sparkling century led England to 416

Number-three batter Ollie Pope stepped in with England at 0-1 and skillfully crafted an innings of 121, sharing a 105-run partnership for the second wicket with Ben Duckett, who scored briskly in the first hour.

Opener Duckett, aware that he might need to leave the match if his partner goes into labor, batted with urgency. He hit the first four legal deliveries he faced for boundaries and seemed poised to challenge England’s fastest century in Test cricket before being dismissed for 71 off 59 balls.

Pope capitalized on being dropped twice, on 46 and 54, to reach his century off 143 balls. Captain Ben Stokes contributed a valuable 69 runs before falling victim to the West Indies bowlers, notably off-spinner Kevin Sinclair and left-armer Kavem Hodge, who exploited England’s tendency to lose wickets at inopportune moments.

The day ended in chaos as England lost their last five wickets for 74 runs. The West Indies added to their tally of dropped catches, totaling four, while Mark Wood survived a stumping chance off Hodge. Wood and Chris Woakes managed to push England's total past 400 before Woakes and Shoaib Bashir were dismissed in successive overs, with Bashir falling to the final ball of the day.

With a 1-0 lead and an opportunity to clinch the series, England finds themselves in a commanding position, though it could have been even more dominant.