Ben Stokes strikes twice for England as Brian Bennett leads Zimbabwe resistance
Zimbabwe were 210 for five at tea replying to England’s 565 for six.
Ben Stokes grabbed two comeback wickets as England chipped away at Zimbabwe’s resistance on day two at Trent Bridge.
England declared in the morning session with 565 for six on the board and had the tourists 210 for five at tea, 21-year-old opener Brian Bennett hitting back with an excellent 122 not out.
Debutant Sam Cook opened his international account when he had Ben Curran caught at slip in his third over and there were a couple of breakthroughs for spinner Shoaib Bashir.
But it was a finger injury to the latter – sustained as he dived to attempt a return catch – that opened the door to the best spell of the day.
With Bashir leaving the pitch for treatment, captain Stokes came on to complete the over and made a big impact. Bennett was badly dropped off the all-rounder’s second delivery, Joe Root the guilty party at slip, but Sikandar Raza and Wessly Madhevere were not so lucky as Stokes dismissed both in the space of 11 runless deliveries.
Stokes has struggled to produce his best with the ball for a number of years but, having spent the last five months recovering from a torn left hamstring, he charged in with more venom than he has mustered in recent memory.
England resumed on 498 for three, the most runs ever scored on day one of a Test in this country, and added another 67 in a lively 45 minutes.
Ollie Pope, the highest scorer of England’s three centurions, added just two to his overnight 169 before nicking Tanaka Chivanga behind, while Stokes was bounced out by Blessing Muzarabani for nine in his first competitive innings of the year.
The bulk of the scoring was done by Harry Brook, who heaved his way to 58 from 50 balls, including three increasingly daring sixes crashed over the leg-side boundary.
Stokes waved his side in as soon as Brook dragged Muzarabani into his stumps, handing the stage to Cook.
The 27-year-old conceded three boundaries in his opening over, Bennett profiting from a couple of chunky inside edges and a flourish outside off, but picked up a first success when Curran nicked to Brook at second slip.
The middle brother of England internationals Tom and Sam therefore became a milestone name in the Essex seamer’s little black ‘Cook book’ – a notepad containing each of his senior scalps.
That was England’s only breakthrough before lunch, Gus Atkinson short on inspiration and Cook unable to build sustained pressure. Bennett, scoring at a lively rate against attacking fields, was the prime beneficiary.
Bashir was handed a long stint and turned in a mixed bag, offering up too many loose balls but picking up a couple of wickets – Craig Ervine nudging low to slip and Sean 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 was consistently threatening, squaring Raza up and clipping the edge then bowling Madhevere for a duck.
