Summary

  • England pile up 498-3 on opening day - report

  • Duckett, Crawley and Pope all hit sparkling centuries

  • Root brings up 13,000 Test runs - only four batters have more

  • England openers put on 231 for first wicket

  • Zimbabwe win toss, One-off Test, Trent Bridge

Live Reporting

by Matthew Henry and Elizabeth Botcherby

  1. Blessing Muzarabani is back for his first spell of the second session.

    The umpires are being kept busy today with jumpers coming on and off in the Nottingham chill.

  2. Michael Vaughan
    Former England captain on BBC Test Match Special

    Ollie PopeGetty Images

    It looks to me like Tanaka Chivanga is trying to bowl as straight as he possibly can.

    Everyone expects you to go out there and hit the ball to all parts. Ollie Pope has had to sit on the balcony and watch this pair. It is an attack that Pope will fancy facing.

  3. Eng 218-0

    You make a fair point, Jack, and unfortunately, the solution to closing that gulf is one of cricket's enduring mysteries. If anyone has the answer, do get in touch.

    Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley are closing in on their record partnership of 233, which they posted in Rawalpindi in 2022.

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    Yes, Zimbabwe recently beat Bangladesh - but that has to be seen in the context of the current state of Bangladeshi cricket, where they have just lost a series against the UAE. The gulf between the bigger Test nations and everybody else is growing wider.

    Jack

  5. Michael Vaughan
    Former England captain on BBC Test Match Special

    StokesReuters

    It's all very easy for England.

    It is almost looking like you could set yourself a number, and you could decide what you want to get as an individual player.

    Zimbabwe have not managed to find the consistency or the movement.

  6. Drinks - Eng 208-0

    Crawley 71, Duckett 128

    He's had a couple of hiccups in recent overs but on the whole, Ben Duckett's timing has been exquisite. He picks off another four through the covers, the ball racing away through the gap.

    It's time for drinks and an opportunity to regroup for Zimbabwe.

  7. Vic Marks
    Former England spinner on Test Match Special

    I think Duckett's taken a view that he's going to play a few shots here.

  8. How's stat?!

    Andy Zaltzman
    Test Match Special statistician

    Only three other England opening pairs have had three double-hundred partnerships. Jack Hobbs and Wilfred Rhodes, Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe, and Mike Atherton and Graham Gooch.

  9. Eng 201-0

    Crawley 71, Duckett 121

    200 up for England.

    They were 130-0 after 26 overs at lunch. They've upped the ante a little.

  10. Eng 195-0

    Evasive action from umpire Kumar Dharmasena, who spreads his legs and jumps up high to hurdle Zak Crawley's pull shot.

    I wonder if he's good at those arcade dance machines with footwork like that...

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    #bbccricket, via WhatsApp on 03301231826 or text 81111 (standard network charges apply)

    Anon: I'm struggling to see what point of this game is, apart from huge stat padding exercise. It's hardly any form of preparation for India. County sides would be more of a test.

    Please include your name when contacting us.

  12. Eng 194-0

    Everything is going Ben Duckett's way today! A slightly ugly edge goes up in the air but drops in between a couple of fielders in the circle.

    He's still going strong on 120 (119).

    Here's a reminder of how he reached his century.

    Duckett brings up century as England dominate with the bat

  13. Eng 191-0

    'It's a huge hit!' - Duckett hits six over deep backwards square leg

    Boom! That's huge. It's slightly too short and Duckett pulls it hard and flat into the crowd. The first six of the day, which feels a bit late in this Bazball era.

    It's an expensive return to the attack for Chivanga.

  14. Tanaka Chivanga returns to the attack.

    His four overs this morning cost 30 runs.

  15. Eng 181-0

    Crawley 67, Duckett 109

    Zak Crawley is all smiles as he meets Ben Duckett in the middle for the mandatory end-of-over fist bump.

    England are clipping along at more than five an over.

  16. How's stat?!

    Rufus Bullough
    CricViz analyst

    DuckettReuters

    Duckett now averages 127.50 at Trent Bridge in Test matches. Of the 129 England players to have batted three or more times at this ground, nobody averages more.

  17. A brief pause in proceedings as the umpires browse the suitcase for a replacement ball. After 34 overs, the current one is refusing to fit through the ring.

  18. How's stat?!

    Andy Zaltzman
    Test Match Special statistician

    DuckettGetty Images

    It's Duckett's fifth hundred, one was faster - 88 balls against India in Rajkot. It's the fifth fastest century by an England opener, behind two of Crawley's, one of his and Graham Gooch's against India at Lord's in 1990, in the second innings after scoring his triple century.

  19. Eng 178-0

    Oooooh a couple of lifelines for Ben Duckett after reaching his century.

    He narrowly evades a diving fielder at midwicket. A few deliveries later, he chips the ball back towards bowler Victor Nyauchi, who ends up flat on his tummy as it just doesn't carry.

    Nyauchi looks the most likely bowler to make the breakthrough for Zimbabwe. He's been very lively after lunch.

  20. How's stat?!

    Rufus Bullough
    CricViz analyst

    A fifth Test match hundred for Ben Duckett and his second at a run a ball or better. Duckett has left just two deliveries today - two of his five Test match hundreds have been achieved without leaving a single ball.