England are all out for 416 on first day of second Test against West Indies, as Ollie Pope stars with 121 runs in dominant batting display

A hundred from Ollie Pope was the highlight of an entertaining but faultless opening day of the second Test match, with both teams ruing the missed opportunity.

England will be all the more pleased after being bowled out for 416 in the final over of the evening after West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite gave them the first opportunity to use a typical Trent Bridge track.

But several batsmen were succumbed to knocks that should not have been seen before the 9pm watershed, and Pope in particular was grateful for the generosity of his opponents. With Ben Duckett hitting 71 from 59 balls, and Ben Stokes putting a dismal run behind him to make 69, the West Indians were left to rue a sloppy display that combined fumbles, overthrows, drops and a missed stumping.

Had they taken their chances, Brathwaite’s decision might have been justified. Instead, Pope was missed in the slips on 46 and 54, and Harry Brook at backward point on 24, Alick Athanaze twice the guilty party.

And while Brook failed to cash, Pope completed his sixth Test century and first significant innings since the epic 196 with which he opened the series in India in Hyderabad in January.

Pope was England’s all-time top scorer as he scored 121 runs from just 167 balls, hitting 16 boundaries

West Indies won the toss and decided to bowl. They started quickly before falling behind on the run rate.

By the time he finally accepted a lead at the slips, he had made 121 and put his team in a position from which they had to determine the terms against a team trailing by 121 and 136 runs at Lord’s.

England, however, will realise they should have been in an even stronger position as their batters took turns delivering gifts.

Joe Root botched a pull to mid-on, Brook made a mess of a paddle sweep, and both Stokes and Jamie Smith — who, like Brook, made a promising 36 — fell in search of sixes when the bowling seemed at their mercy. England under Stokes and Brendon McCullum are many things, but they are not yet ruthless.

While others came and went, Pope’s innings became increasingly important. There have been times since Hyderabad when he has looked too all-or-nothing to inspire confidence in the crucial position of No 3. Averages of 15 against Australia and 24 against India fuel the critics who claim he is lacking on the big occasion.

But he went into the summer with 57 in the innings win at Lord’s, and both sides of his respite here showed the strokeplay that has convinced England to continue with him. In the Bazball era, only Root has made more than his five centuries, and only Root and — narrowly — Zak Crawley have scored more than his 1,597 runs.

And for all the nervousness that seems to be part of his character, there is also a classic open-mindedness, which confirms Neville Cardus’s long-ago observation that ‘time does not invade Trent Bridge with irrelevant modernity’.

It was a beautiful day in the East Midlands, where a capacity crowd was rewarded with a light breeze and a cloudless sky. Any displeasure over Jimmy Anderson’s absence evaporated once it became clear that England would bat.

When Alzarri caught Joseph Crawley at third slip with the third delivery of the morning, it was as if Lord’s had never happened. But England’s response was as immediate as it was brutal. Duckett smashed Jayden Seales’ first four legal deliveries to the boundary, and the fifty came in 4.2 overs — another Test record for the Bazballers.

Zak Crawley started with the worst possible star as he was caught for nil after facing just three balls

West Indian bowler Shamar Joseph claimed two wickets as England continued to score impressively

On his home turf, and against naive pitches that offered no protection, Duckett raced to a half-century in 30 balls, the fastest by an England opener. He seemed determined to score all his runs before his fiancée, Paige, went into labour.

West Indies continued to crumble just as it looked as if Brathwaite would enter the captaincy hall of fame, still led by Nasser Hussain’s decision to bowl in Brisbane in 2002-03. But the runs kept coming and the four seamers — despite taking six wickets — conceded 292 in 56 overs. England smashed 50 fours and four sixes.

So it was to their chagrin that they were throwing wickets away against a couple of inexperienced spinners. Kevin Sinclair, playing only because Gudakesh Motie had fallen ill, struck Brook out and celebrated with the trademark backflip he had developed during his impoverished childhood in Berbice, Guyana.

Ben Stokes made a brilliant half-century as England recovered from a difficult start

Ben Duckett put in a strong opening batting display as he scored 71 runs from 59 balls

Stokes had to drag himself off after pulling Kavem Hodge to deep midwicket, a maiden Test wicket for his modest left-handed spin. And Smith was equally incredulous when he helped Hodge down the throat from long-on, the ball having launched high and fine for a straight six. Those two deliveries summed up the day’s gaiety.

Chris Woakes then provided the final cameo of the day, with a powerful 37 that underlined his value at No. 8 and – to cheers from a crowd that didn’t quite know what to make of it – took England past 400.

Nineteen years ago at Edgbaston, they made 407 on the first day against Australia. That they managed to score more runs here without the same sense of wonder says a lot about the way this team’s approach has transformed expectations.

Meanwhile, West Indies will have to bat excellently to spare Brathwaite any more attention.