NOTTINGHAM: England openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett put together a dominant unbeaten partnership as the home side quickly moved to 130 runs without loss on the opening morning of the one-off Test against Zimbabwe on Thursday.
At lunch, Duckett was 75 not out with Crawley unbeaten on 53 after 26 overs as England wasted little time imposing themselves on proceedings at a rate of five runs per over.
Duckett was the first to reach his half century off 47 balls with nine boundaries and Crawley soon followed, taking 76 balls to reach his 50 at Trent Bridge.
Crawley has been short of runs and potentially needs an imposing innings to solidify his place for the five-Test series against India that follows the four-day clash with Zimbabwe.
Visiting captain Craig Ervine won the toss and put England into bat, hoping the cloudy and cold conditions would force an early breakthrough but Zimbabwe’s seamers toiled without success on a placid wicket.
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While tall bowler Blessing Muzarabani asked questions of the England batters, Richard Ngarava had little impact and Tanaka Chivanga proved expensive while Victor Nyauchi came on after 20 overs with the openers well set.
Zimbabwe’s first Test in England in more than 20 years represents a rare opportunity for the southern Africans to test themselves as the hosts prepare for the series against India before the Ashes in Australia.
England handed a debut to seamer Sam Cook as well as a return to the Test arena, after a two-year injury-enforced absence, for fellow fast bowler Josh Tongue.
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