England were 221/3 when bad light forced early stumps on the first day of the third Test against Sri Lanka at The Oval on Friday.

Captain Ollie Pope, under pressure to make runs after a disappointing series with the bat, was batting on a run-a-ball 103 along with Harry Brook (8 batting). Joe Root fell to Lahiru Kumara for 13 just before tea.

Ben Duckett made a rapid half-century before being dismissed for 86 after lunch. The opener hit nine fours and two sixes. Put into bat, England lost the early wicket of Dan Lawrence but Duckett made light of tricky batting conditions to reach his half-century from 48 balls.

Lawrence, on five, skied an ambitious pull off Lahiru Kumara and was caught by Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva, the opening trudging off after another failure.