Ben Stokes among England wickets as Shoaib Bashir claims record on day two

Ben Stokes was back among the wickets and Shoaib Bashir became the youngest England bowler to 50 Test scalps as Zimbabwe struggled to stay afloat on day two at Trent Bridge.

The hosts declared on 565 for six after a 45-minute thrash in the morning session, then picked up 11 wickets as they enforced the follow-on.

A vibrant 139 from young opener Brian Bennett held them back but the tourists could only muster 265 in the first innings and finished 30 for two after being sent back in.

With England still 270 in front, a hasty finish on the third day could be on the cards.

Debutant Sam Cook opened his international account in his third over, Ben Curran caught at slip, but the lion’s share of the work was done by the captain and his young spinner at the Radcliffe Road End.

Bashir, who came into the game on the back of just two wickets in three loan appearances for Glamorgan, dismissed experienced campaigners Craig Ervine and Sean Williams and later bowled Tafadzwa Tsiga with a beauty. In doing so the 21-year-old beat Steven Finn to the 50-wicket mark by almost seven months.

In between times, Bashir injured a finger diving for a caught-and-bowled chance, leaving Stokes to step in while he left the field for treatment.

Stokes has not bowled a competitive delivery since tearing his hamstring in December and has rarely seemed comfortable with the ball recent years, but looked finely tuned as in an eye-catching spell.

His second ball saw Bennett dropped at slip on 89 but Sikandar Raza and Wessly Madhevere were not so lucky, both dismissed in the space of 11 runless deliveries.

It was a brief stint from the skipper but one that contained the kind of focused venom he has not always been able to find in recent times.

Gus Atkinson finished off the innings with a couple of yorkers that were too hot for the tailenders who received them and, buoyed by a lead of exactly 300, Stokes called immediately for the follow-on.

England resumed on 498 for three, adding another 67 and losing three more wickets. Ollie Pope added only two to his overnight 169 before nicking Tanaka Chivanga, Blessing Muzarabani bounced out Stokes for nine and Harry Brook launched three sixes in a flashy 58.

His dismissal brought the declaration, bringing Cook to the fore for a first taste of the Test arena.

The Essex seamer was handed the new ball – the first Englishman to bowl the opening over on debut since Martin McCague in 1993 – and conceded three boundaries in his first visit.

Two came off chunky inside edges, with the next coming as he over-corrected with too much width. The 27-year-old soon had a milestone entry in his little black ‘Cook book’ – adding Curran’s name to the notepad that contains a comprehensive list of his victims.

Dismissing the middle brother of England internationals Tom and Sam was as good as it got for the newcomer, with Cook unusually untidy as he allowed 72 runs from his 17 overs.

Bennett made the quartet of Cook, Atkinson, Bashir and Josh Tongue look tame as he ran up a 97-ball century, his country’s fastest Test ton.

But Bashir made valuable inroads at the other end, Ervine nudging low to slip and Williams bowled off the under-edge.

He was close to a third when Raza punched one back at him but it was him, rather than the batter, who left the field as he suffered a painful blow to the index finger.

Stokes replaced him and immediately threatening, Raza caught behind off a cracker that squared him up off the pitch and Madhevere was equally foxed by a big inswinger.

Tongue bounced out Bennett twice – his first success chalked off for a no-ball – before Atkinson’s double and the absence of the injured Richard Ngarava ended things.

That meant a second chance of the day for Bennett but he was not able to recreate the fluency that brought him 26 fours and an admirable hundred in his first attempt.

He was lbw to Atkinson for just one this time and Ervine turned Tongue to short leg in a meek departure.