Ben Stokes struck twice on his return to Test cricket as England enforced the follow-on against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge on Friday despite a record-breaking century from Brian Bennett.
Zimbabwe were dismissed for just 265 after tea on the second day of the four-day match, exactly 300 runs behind England’s mammoth first-innings 565-6 declared.
England captain Ben Stokes wasted no time in asking Zimbabwe to bat again as he sought to turn the screw in Nottingham.
And at stumps, Zimbabwe were 30-2 in their second innings, a deficit of 270 runs.
This actually represented a recovery from 7-2 in the first Test of Zimbabwe in England in 22 years.
Bennett endured the other side of Test cricket when lbw for just one to Gus Atkinson before Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine also fell cheaply.
Zimbabwe were dominated by England’s batsmen before reaching the relative comfort of 187-3 on a flat pitch in their first innings.
But all-rounder Ben Stokes, playing his first match of the year in any form of cricket following hamstring surgery, took two wickets for no runs in 11 balls before tea to leave Zimbabwe struggling on 199-5.
He had Sikandar Raza (seven) caught behind off a lifting delivery ball that cut away before bowling Wessly Madhevere for a duck with a sharp in-ducker.
Bennett, occasionally riding his luck, kept England at bay, reaching 139 off just 143 balls, including an impressive 26 fours, before he was dismissed.
He reached his century in 97 balls, breaking the record for the fastest Test ton by a Zimbabwe batsman, Sean Williams’s 106-ball effort against New Zealand at Bulawayo in 2016.
Bennett had a lifeline when dropped in the slips by Joe Root off paceman Stokes on 89 but the 21-year-old opener went to his hundred, his second in seven Tests, in style with three commanding fours off successive balls from fast bowler Atkinson.
“When I play my best that is my game-plan — to be positive,” said Bennett. “I saw the ball nicely.”
Bennett, whose parents were in the crowd at Trent Bridge, added: “It is a huge honour to play for Zimbabwe in Test cricket, especially at such a young age.”
After tea, Bennett was brilliantly caught by a diving Ollie Pope at short leg as he fended at a rising delivery from the injury-plagued Tongue only for replays to reveal the fast bowler, playing his first Test in two years, had over-stepped.
But Bennett was unable to cash in. He was still on 139 when he fell to the same combination in similar fashion, with Pope taking a far simpler catch.
And 246-6 became 251-7 when Shoaib Bashir, who had struck twice before tea, bowled Tafadzwa Tsiga for 22 with a sharply turning delivery.
Zimbabwe’s innings ended when they were nine wickets down, with injured paceman Richard Ngarava unable to bat.
Off-spinner Bashir finished with figures of 3-62 after taking just two wickets in this season’s County Championship at a hugely expensive average of 152 apiece.
“It was nice to get the wickets there,” said the 21-year-old. “It was a pretty dominant day from us.
“Walking into the dressing room, as we say you stand six-foot tall. I’m very well supported here. It’s my happy place,” added Bashir, loaned to Glamorgan because he struggles to get into a Somerset team where Jack Leach is the specialist spinner.
England resumed Friday under sunny skies on an already commanding 498-3, with Pope 169 not out after openers Zak Crawley (124) and Ben Duckett (140) had also made hundreds.
But Pope had added just two runs when caught behind off Tanaka Chivanga, bringing in Stokes, who only managed nine runs.
Harry Brook punished Zimbabwe’s outclassed attack, hitting 58 off 50 balls, including six fours and three sixes.
He struck Blessing Muzarabani for successive sixes, a thumping pull followed by a remarkable pick-up shot that sailed high over fine leg.
Brook went to fifty with another six off Muzarabani before playing on to the persevering quick, who finished with 3-143.
READ: Lahore Qalandars rout Islamabad United to book spot in PSL 10 final
