England dominate Zimbabwe despite Bennett’s record-breaking century

NOTTINGHAM, England: England are on the verge of a crushing victory over Zimbabwe at the close of day two in the one-off Test at Trent Bridge, as the tourists finished on 30-2 in their second innings, still trailing by 270 runs after being forced to follow on.

The highlight of the day came from 21-year-old opener Brian Bennett, who smashed the fastest Test century in Zimbabwe’s history with a dazzling 139 from 97 balls, bringing up his hundred with three consecutive boundaries. His aggressive knock briefly gave Zimbabwe hope in their first Test on English soil in 22 years.

England, having declared on a commanding 565-6, dismantled Zimbabwe’s reply despite Bennett’s heroics. Spinner Shoaib Bashir took 3-62, while captain Ben Stokes impressed with 2-11 in his return to bowling after five months, showing sharp movement on a dry pitch. Debutant Sam Cook picked up a lone wicket.

Zimbabwe collapsed from 73-1 at lunch to 265 all out, with their final six wickets falling for just over 100 runs. Captain Craig Ervine scored 42 and Sean Williams added 25, but their efforts weren’t enough. Richard Ngarava’s injury left the side a batsman short.

Bennett, who was dropped on 89, couldn’t repeat his magic in the second innings and fell for just one.