England’s batters enjoyed a golden start to the summer and winter which may define the Bazball era as they blasted away a raw Zimbabwe bowling attack on Day One of their Test at Trent Bridge.
And history was made when Ollie Pope cut Sikanda Raza through point to reach three figures.
It meant he, Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley, in all hitting 100, had replicated what they did against Pakistan in Rawalpindi in 2022, the first time the same trio had managed the feat twice.
All of this after England had been asked to bat first. Craig Ervine’s decision to bowl under dark clouds in Nottingham won’t go down in history in the same way Ricky Ponting did 50 miles down the M42 at Edgbaston in 2005 did – but there will be some rueful smiles being exchanged tonight in the Zimbabwe camp. England ended the day 498/3.
In fairness, while defensive, it was an understandable decision with Zimbabwe known as a new ball team. But on a track known for batting, any successes needed to come fast.
One of the players they would have dreamt of targeting was Crawley who had a horror run in New Zealand in December. He walked to the crease with increasingly loud voices questioning his place at the top of the team.
But the only nerves on display came from the bowlers who pitched too short and on both sides of the wicket.
At the SIX over stage England were 19/0. That was to be as good as it got for Zimbabwe. Five overs later England were 59/0 with any pressure evaporating much like the moisture in the clouds in the afternoon session.
And problems continued for Zimbabwe after lunch with Richard NGarava being carted from the field suffering from back spasms.
That applied even more pressure on their under-strength bowling attack and when the first wicket came it did so from an unlikely source.
Wesley Madhevere, who wouldn’t have bowled if not for the injury to Ngarava, first two balls were smacked to the boundary. Eyeing a third, Duckett (140) only succeeded in picking out short cover.
The wicket did nothing to put a halt to the lightning fast run rate. As early as the first hour of play on the talkSPORT Cricket YouTube Channel Steve Harmison forecast a score in excess of 500 for the day.
Pope has now scored eight Test hundredsGetty Root became the fifth person to hit 13,000 Test runsGettyConsidering this has only ever happened three times in over 2500 Test matches it was a bold claim. England fell just two runs short.
Replacing Duckett was another under pressure batter in Ollie Pope who would have had his heart in his mouth when rapped on the pads first ball. But he hit a four the next ball, went at a strike rate of over 100 throughout his innings and reached his milestone in the evening session.
His pacey knock (his 50 in 48 balls is his quickest in Tests) took attention away from Crawley who inched towards three figures. When the milestone came it came from a leading edge and led to a subdued celebration.
Crawley’s innings ended on 121, trapped LBW by Sikandar Raza, and Joe Root holed out for 34. There was a significant milestone for Root too as he passed 13,000 Test runs, becoming just the fifth person in history to do so.
Pope (169*) and Harry Brook (10*) will return on Friday looking for even quicker runs, a declaration and hoping to bat just the once.
Overseas cricket fans can listen to live commentary of every England Test this summer by tuning into the talkSPORT Cricket YouTube Channel.
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