Vic Marks
Former England spinner on Test Match Special
Blessing Muzarabani has been the most dangerous bowler, as we anticipated.
You can understand why he has taken a lot of wickets.
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My prediction: 320 to 350 by tea and then 450 to 480 at the close. If they make that, then really open up and 600 late tomorrow morning before declaring.
Andrew in London
Crawley 52, Duckett 71
Argh.
It is a special occasion for Zimbabwe but some of the cricket has not been the best. This time two players misfield diving after the same delivery.
It might be that the initial parry has wrong-footed Sikandar Raza but it looks scruffy. Four more to Duckett.
Andy Zaltzman
Test Match Special statistician
Image source, Getty ImagesThe Rawalpindi Test against Pakistan in 2022 - when England scored 506-4 on day one - was the first time Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley opened together.
England were 174-0 off 27 overs at lunch.
Crawley 51, Duckett 64
Careful, Zak. Having seen Ben Duckett cut another four, he plays one of those loose drives to Blessing Muzarabani.
Big Blessing has been the pick of the Zimbabwe bowlers and tempted the shot by finding the right length there.
Rufus Bullough
CricViz analyst
Since McCullum took over, England’s opening partnership has put on 100 on five occasions. Today’s opening stand took 20.2 overs to reach 100, which is the slowest of the five. The fastest came against Pakistan in Dec 2022 where this pair scored their hundred from just 13.4 overs at Rawalpindi
Andy Zaltzman
Test Match Special statistician
Since Zak Crawley's 189 at Old Trafford in the 2023 Ashes he has reached 70 six times but has not reached 80.
Crawley reaches half-century mark to give England strong start to innings
There's Zak Crawley's fifty.
It's his first in 11 innings and waves his bat towards the dressing room.
The Kent opener hasn't scored a ton since the Manchester Ashes Test of 2023. I'm not sure he'll get a better chance.
Stephan Shemilt
BBC Sport chief cricket reporter at Trent Bridge
Ben Stokes is loosely a Spurs fan. In 2019 he said he was looking for a club to support and they sent him a shirt.
He was asked about it yesterday and said he was most keen to see them win the Europa League final just for Ange Postecoglou's reaction in the media.
It seems unlikely that last night has really put a spring in Stokes' step, but there will be other parts of the dressing room that are truly disappointed. Sam Cook and Josh Tongue are Manchester United fans, Ollie Pope supports Arsenal.
Short and wide.
With Ben Duckett on strike, you know the rest...
32-year-old right-arm seamer Victor Nyauchi is on for his first bowl.
He needs help from the umpire to help him get his jumper off.
Vic Marks
Former England spinner on Test Match Special
Image source, ReutersZak Crawley has been a bit more measured where he's left a few. On another day he would be cutting away.
Ben Duckett doesn't leave many, he's slashed a couple down to the boundary.
It's an ideal start from an English perspective.
Crawley 49, Duckett 54
England's scores ticks over to 100 in 122 deliveries.
With England's 50-over team searching for a new opener after the struggles of the winter and the dropping of Phil Salt, it makes we wonder whether Zak Crawley shoulder partner Ben Duckett there too.
Probably a debate for another day. Crawley is now on the brink of a timely Test fifty.
#bbccricket, via WhatsApp on 03301231826 or text 81111 (standard network charges apply)
Image source, Getty ImagesJohn Petrie: Imagine being a bowler thinking we just need to get these two out and we can bowl at Root, Brook and Stokes.
Crawley 44, Duckett 52
The boundaries are back as Zak Crawley swings one from his waist down to fine leg. Crawley tries to smack another towards Leicester at the end of the over but misses.
Here's how Ben Duckett got to his 14th Test fifty...
Duckett hits four over slip to bring up half-century
Blessing Muzarabani returns for his second spell and begins with a maiden.
That's two good overs from the quicks.
Andy Zaltzman
Test Match Special statistician
Image source, Getty ImagesZak Crawley needs some runs.
Before today he has scored 113 runs in 10 innings since the second Test in Pakistan.
Better from Richard Ngarava, who stops the flow of boundaries in his latest over.
We've just had a Spurs fan arrive in the office waving a scarf. Doesn't he know it's summer?
Michael Vaughan
Former England captain on BBC Test Match Special
Image source, ReutersBen Duckett makes batting look so comfortable. 47 deliveries, and he has so many options.
He is a real difficult player keep quiet. It has got the feeling of being a long day for Zimbabwe.
| Batter | Runs | Balls | Dots | 4s | 6s | Minutes | Strike Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Crawley,leg before wicket, bowled Raza Crawley, leg before wicket, bowled Raza | 124 | 171 | 103 | 14 | 0 | 282 | 72.51 |
Duckett,caught Curran, bowled Madhevere Duckett, caught Curran, bowled Madhevere | 140 | 134 | 74 | 20 | 2 | 188 | 104.48 |
batting,Pope,not out batting, Pope, not out | 169 | 163 | 87 | 24 | 2 | 189 | 103.68 |
Root,caught Williams, bowled Muzarabani Root, caught Williams, bowled Muzarabani | 34 | 44 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 69 | 77.27 |
batting,Brook,not out batting, Brook, not out | 9 | 18 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 50.00 |
Extras, no balls 2, wides 5, byes 6, leg byes 9, total 22 Extras, no balls 2, wides 5, byes 6, leg byes 9, total 22 | |||||||
Total,498 for 3 88.0 overs Total,498 for 3 88.0 overs |
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Dots | No balls | Wides | 4s | 6s | Economy rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ngarava | 9.0 | 1 | 42 | 0 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 4.66 |
Muzarabani | 20.0 | 3 | 111 | 1 | 69 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 5.55 |
Chivanga, bowling | 12.0 | 0 | 83 | 0 | 42 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 6.91 |
Nyauchi | 18.0 | 0 | 103 | 0 | 62 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 5.72 |
Raza | 24.0 | 1 | 93 | 1 | 81 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 3.87 |
Madhevere | 3.0 | 0 | 34 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 11.33 |
Bennett | 2.0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8.50 |
| Fall of wicket | Batter |
|---|---|
231 for 1 (41.3 overs) | Duckett |
368 for 2 (65.1 overs) | Crawley |
479 for 3 (82.4 overs) | Root |
