Ollie Pope laments ‘missed opportunity’ as England collapse against South Africa

Batsman’s 56 not out made him the only England player to pass the half-century mark

Ollie Pope lamented “a missed opportunity” as England settled for 262 for nine at stumps when they should have had much more for less.

A series of thrown away starts meant Pope was the only half-centurion out of six players to score 29 or more. Each batsman got going and perhaps only Joe Root can say he was unlucky, undone by a perfectly directed bouncer from Anrich Nortje two balls after he had been dropped at slip by Rassie van der Dussen.

The England captain had won the toss and, rightly, chosen to bat on a pitch that opposition skipper Faf du Plessis believed would be perfect for batting. Were it not for the 22-year old Pope, the visitors would be well short of par and, had Kagiso Rabada not overstepped, would be all out for 261.

Rabada’s error means Pope will resume on 56 - a second Test half-century in the bag – with James Anderson (3 not out). “Jimmy’s on strike,” he joked, “so hopefully he can get through the first ball! Hopefully he can nick a single or get through the over. And then we’ll try and do what we did tonight. If we can get another 30 runs that’d be great.” The pair have added 28 so far.

“It’s definitely a missed opportunity,” Pope said of the series of botched innings. An engaging 58-run partnership with Ben Stokes looked to take the game away from the Proteas. But the all-rounder, who had been batting serenely, wafted a wristy shot straight to Dean Elgar at cover for Nortje’s second wicket.

“I’m sure Stokesy is pretty frustrated as well, as he was playing the aggressor role and I was just getting into my innings and finding my way. It was a shame. He’ll be as annoyed as anyone I’m sure. These things happen and hopefully we can learn from the mistakes we made today.”

Pope’s mature knock has so far lasted 132 deliveries and there were flashes of his impishness with ramp shots off Rabada when he was in search for quick bonus runs. And there were also signs of his grown-up approach in his press conference when he was able to lament the dismissals witness on day one.

“When you get out in the 30’s you’ve done the hard work. The hardest bit of batting is getting to 30. When you get out at 30 it’s the most frustrating thing. But whether that was the wicket or the way we played we’ll find out tomorrow. If we can expose what there is in the wicket then maybe that was why we got out.”

He also sought advice, calling out Jonny Bairstow on the wicket of Dom Bess for “advice on how to play the situation”. On Saturday, he’ll look to put it all into practice, picking up singles and looking for boundary options. That a par score rests on someone so young is as much an acknowledgement of Pope’s class as it is a criticism of his teammates’ frivolous batting.