Pope, who is leading the Three Lions in place of an injured Ben Stokes, scored 154 runs off 156 balls in the first innings with the help of 19 fours and two sixes. On the back of his knock, the hosts put up a decent score of 325 on the board in 69.1 overs. The 26-year-old Pope was under pressure as captain after he scored only 30 runs from four innings in the first two Tests at an average of 7.50. Atherton said that with his back against the wall,  "He has come into the game under a fair bit of scrutiny. There had been some natter about his lack of runs since taking over the captaincy, so I thought it was a courageous innings," Atherton told Sky Sports. 'Ollie Pope played enterprisingly' Pope was unbeaten on 103 at the close of play on Day 1, and he carried on from where he left off. He was the eighth English wicket to go down after left-arm pacer Vishwa Fernando removed the big fish. Pope also rode his luck, surviving an LBW call and an inside edge en route to his incredible knock. "There was the odd sketchy shot but that is inevitable in the conditions. I thought he played enterprisingly, so well played to him," Pope Atherton added. At Stumps on Day 2, England are still in a healthy position as Sri Lanka are trailing by 114 runs with five wickets left in their first innings. Olly Stone has been the pick of the English bowlers with figures of 5-1-28-2.