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WICKET! Muzarabani c Root b Bashir 0 (Zimbabwe 222-7)
After taking one ball to play himself in, Blessing goes big! And picks out Joe Root at deep midwicket.
52nd over: Zimbabwe 222-6 (Raza 50, Muzarabani 0) Raza, facing Stokes, plays a Caribbean-style back-foot drive for four to go to his 11th Test fifty off 57 balls. He has now been joined by Blessing Muzarabani, who is about twice his height. They make Crawley and Duckett look like a pair of twins.
WICKET! Tsiga b Bashir 4 (Zimbabwe 218-6)
Another lovely moment for England supporters. Bashir sees Tsiga advancing with intent, sends a ripping off-break through the gate and brushes the leg stump, so lightly that the umpires have to call for a review. That’s out all right.
50th over: Zimbabwe 215-5 (Raza 45, Tsiga 2) Stokes continues, finding bounce and bite. He beats the outside edge of Tafadzwa Tsiga, who looks back towards his opposite number, Jamie Smith, in a way that makes you wonder if he got the faintest of nicks.
Sky have dug out a few England catches that were in the same class as Brook’s just now. There’s Paul Collingwood flying through the air at backward point in a one-day game and then there’s Stokes, diving to his right at gully off Stuart Broad in an Ashes Test at Trent Bridge. Broad says it’s the best catch he ever saw live. “He even looks surprised himself,” says Eoin Morgan. “And young,” says Broad.
Drinks: England on top again
49th over: Zimbabwe 213-5 (Raza 44, Tsiga 1) Raza, unruffled, drives Bashir through the covers for four. That’s something that has tended to be frowned upon by old-school coaches, hitting against the spin as they say, although it conforms with the age-old mantra that you should aim to send the ball back where it has come from. And that’s drinks with England reasserting themselves, thanks to a fine catch by Stokes and a phenomenal one by Brook.
48th over: Zimbabwe 207-5 (Raza 37, Tsiga 0) The catch is now being replayed from every angle, and rightly so. Brook took an instinctive decision to go with his right hand, even though the ball was flying above his left shoulder. Stokes did what Stuart Broad did when Stokes himself took a catch that was that good – putting both hands on his head and turning his face into a great big emoji of delight.
WICKET! Madhevere c Brook b Stokes 31 (Zimbabwe 207-5)
This is one of the best catches you’ll ever see. Madhevere flashes hard and Harry Brook, at second slip, reaches up, as John Arlott would have said, like a man taking a can of baked beans off the top shelf.
47th over: Zimbabwe 203-4 (Raza 37, Madhevere 30) The batters keep attacking Bashir, but only have a few singles to show for it.
Meanwhile Sam Curran’s counter-attack at the Oval has come to an end. He rescued Surry with 70 off 83 balls, in sharp contrast to his brother Ben, who made 37 off 104 here. Different strokes for different bros.
46th over: Zimbabwe 200-4 (Raza 35, Madhevere 29) Cook goes a touch short and a touch wide to Madhevere, who cashes in with a handsome cut. The Zimbabweans couldn’t have batted much better today, and they’re still in danger of an innings defeat. As the 200 comes up, and their fans have another dance, they still trail by 100.
45th over: Zimbabwe 193-4 (Raza 34, Madhevere 24) No boundaries off Bashir, but after a couple of singles Raza square-drives for two to bring up the fifty partnership, 51 off 50 balls. It’s been highly entertaining.
44th over: Zimbabwe 189-4 (Raza 31, Madhevere 23) Cook suddenly goes back to being expensive. Madhevere straight-drives him for a two that could have been three, and then Raza takes him on, dancing like a fan and lofting him back over his head for four. Cook, rattled, drops short to Madhevere, who plays a lordly pull for four more. That’s 12 off the over.
43rd over: Zimbabwe 177-4 (Raza 26, Madhevere 16) Bashhir continues for his tenth over of the innings – and best. He finds flight and dip and as the commentators say, Raza doesn’t know whether to look out for his inside edge (to the turning ball) or the outside one (to the arm ball). Raza ends up having a desperate swing and getting away with it as a top edge flies over Jamie Smith’s shoulder.
42nd over: Zimbabwe 171-4 (Raza 22, Madhevere 16) Cook goes up for LBW against Madhevere and, when the finger fails to go up too, Stokes reviews. You can see why because it’s a booming inswinger, but HawkEye eventually rules that it’s doing too much. Cook has to settle for a maiden: after going for 72 off 17 overs in the first innings, he now has 12-3-28-0, so he’s reached his century with just one wicket to show for it.
41st over: Zimbabwe 171-4 (Raza 22, Madhevere 16) Raza, facing Bashir, seems to be taking guard outside off stump. And it works as he plays a late on-drive for four and a big slog-sweep for four more. He does play and miss at one ball, which takes the edge of Jamie Smith’s glove and smacks Harry Brook, at slip, full in the face. It looks nasty but Brook soon has a broad smile and Joe Root is roaring with laughter, the way the players do when one of their mates is hit in an even more delicate area.
40th over: Zimbabwe 163-4 (Raza 14, Madhevere 16) Madhevere continues to treat a tricky situation like a picnic in the park. He eases Cook through the covers for two, clips past square leg for two more, glances to fine leg for yet another two, and then goes up a gear to pull for four and get the Zimbabwe fans dancing with delight.
39th over: Zimbabwe 153-4 (Raza 14, Madhevere 6) Sikandar Raza finds the boundary off Bashir, but it’s a false shot – a miscued pull that ends up popping off the glove and dribbling away to long-stop.
38th over: Zimbabwe 149-4 (Raza 10, Madhevere 6) A maiden from Cook to Madhevere.
“Did you ever see John Edrich bat?” asks Bill Bell, picking up on my remark from 13:05. “I saw him hammer 164 in a day once and he smashed New Zealand for 310. Perhaps you meant GeoffBoycottBall?” Ha. I did see Edrich bat, in his latter days in 1975 and ’76, when he was more sedate. But I take your point. Didn’t go for Boycott as I needed a left-hander, so perhaps we can agree on AlastairCookball?
37th over: Zimbabwe 149-4 (Raza 10, Madhevere 6) Another feather in the cap of Shoaib Bashir, who may have got just enough turn, the commentators are saying, to induce that loose shot. Curran faced 104 balls and hit precisely one of them for four. Wessly Madhevere matches that instantly by belting Bashir over mid-on. Different strokes for different folks.
WICKET! Curran c Stokes b Bashir 37 (Zimbabwe 142-4)
Noooo! Ben Curran, what have you done? He plays a loose drive and Stokes, who dropped him first thing, makes no mistake at extra-cover. That’s the end of a doughty vigil and a big blow for Zimbabwe.
36th over: Zimbabwe 142-3 (Curran 37, Raza 9) Tongue gives way to Sam Cook, who bowls to Ben Curran with the sort of field Jimmy Anderson used to have on flat slow tracks – a catcher at short mid-off. Five dots and a single.
Lunch! Zimbabwe’s morning, but Bashir bites back
35th over: Zimbabwe 141-3 (Curran 36, Raza 9) Raza tucks into Bashir’s offbreaks, driving past extra-cover for two, but the rest of the over is a row of dots. Bashir gave Stokes what he most wanted, the breakthrough, to end a fighting second-wicket stand of 122.
Ben Curran is still there after dropping anchor and then surviving a review. He made 32 runs in the morning while 75 were being rattled up at the other end – 66 of them to the very watchable Williams. It’s been Bazball at one end and JohnEdrichball at the other.
34th over: Zimbabwe 139-3 (Curran 36, Raza 7) Sikandar Raza is not playing for lunch. He takes the mantle from Williams, cutting Tongue for four and then easing him for three in the same direction. The crowd are having a ball now, cheering and singing.
33rd over: Zimbabwe 131-3 (Curran 34, Raza 0) Well done Bashir, still a better bowler in Tests than he has ever been in county cricket. One reason for that is Ben Stokes’ creative captaincy. Stokes played his part in this dismissal by leaving a big space behind square to tempt the batters into the sweep, not that Williams needed much encouragement.
WICKET! Williams LBW b Bashir 88 (Zimbabwe 129-3)
Another appeal, another review, and this one is confirmed. Williams went for another sweep, got too far across and found Dharmasena’s finger going up again. The ball straightened just enough, as Mark Butcher says, and HawkEye had it clipping that leg bail. It’s the end of a fabulous innings from Sean Williams. And Brian Bennett’s record survives!
32nd over: Zimbabwe 128-2 (Curran 33, Williams 88) Tongue keeps banging them in and the batters keep calm and carry on picking up singles.
Ben Curran’s mum – and Tom’s, and Sam’s – is called Sarah. Apologies for not saying that right away. Like Martha Grace, she is the mother of three Test cricketers, though the resemblance may end there: I can’t quite picture Mrs Grace with dark glasses and blonde highlights.
Wicket overturned! Curran not LBW b Bashir 30
Bashir gets one to straighten a little and raps Curran on the pad. Kumar Dharmasena takes a long time to give it. Curran takes almost as long to review, and HawkEye says it’s going over the leg bail. Good review! This brings the biggest cheer of the day, and an expression of gobsmacked delight from Curran’s mum.
30th over: Zimbabwe 123-2 (Curran 30, Williams 86) Curran is dropped by Stokes, again! Like the caught-and-bowled chance early on, it was only a half-chance. Curran, facing Tongue’s bouncer barrage, played a checked pull. Stokes, at midwicket, flung himself to his left but couldn’t hold onto the ball. Williams, for a change, picks up a couple of singles, as the camera finds Brian Bennett wondering if his record for the fastest Test century by a Zimbabwean is going to last less than a day. He got there in 97 balls; Williams has faced only 76.
29th over: Zimbabwe 120-2 (Curran 29, Williams 84) Bashir continues and so does Williams’ urge to bash him. The first three balls go for four, two, four – a commanding reverse-sweep, a slog-sweep that turns into a jammy top edge, and a dismissive clip through midwicket. Bashir did well to deceive him with the second ball, but the third was a full toss. It remains quite difficult to see Bashir giving the Aussies any grief in the winter.
28th over: Zimbabwe 109-2 (Curran 29, Williams 73) Now we know why Root had that over: just to give Tongue a change of ends. It’s a change of tactics too, as Stokes dismisses the slips and sends men out for the hook, with only a deepish short leg (Pope) anywhere near the bat. Tongue duly bangs it in. Curran ducks and smiles. Meanwhile his little brother is batting for Surrey at the Oval and seems to be taking the role of the boy stood on the burning deck.
Hundred partnership by these two!
27th over: Zimbabwe 107-2 (Curran 28, Williams 72) That move from Stokes wasn’t so unorthodox after all: he brings Shoaib Bashir on now, so it’s offies at both ends. Williams tucks in, bringing out the reverse-sweep to Bashir’s first ball and collecting his 14th four. Curran then brings up the hundred partnership with his signature nurdle. They’ve slowed down a bit (19.4 overs for the hundred, 11.3 for the second fifty), but it’s been a superb response from a tight corner.
26th over: Zimbabwe 101-2 (Curran 27, Williams 67) Stokes decides it’s time for some spin, as any captain might after a fruitless hour or more of seam and swing. But not many would go with a part-timer rather than a specialist. Joe Root repays his faith by starting with a maiden.
25th over: Zimbabwe 101-2 (Curran 27, Williams 67) Williams, facing Tongue, lives a little more dangerously in this over. A play-and-miss brings an appeal for caught behind for Jamie Smith, an uppish drive goes too close to the bowler for comfort, and then there’s another of those inside edges as he nicks a pull into his own midriff. But the drive brings two and now he’s two-thirds of the way to that record.
24th over: Zimbabwe 97-2 (Curran 26, Williams 65) Williams is OK to resume, though he pushes tentatively at the last ball of Tongue’s over and connects only with thin air. When Atkinson continues from the other end, both batters are right on brand – Curran with a nudge for a single, Williams with a cracking cover drive.
“How’s the weather, Tim?” asks Andrew Goudie. “And the crowd?” The weather is grey, chilly and thoroughly English, but – as far as I can tell from north London – it doesn’t feel as if rain is on the way. The crowd, understandably, have been less exuberant than they were when the sun was shining. The biggest excitement in the stands today came when a cameraman found a man in an anorak using his teeth to try and open a monumental multi-pack of salted snacks.
Drinks: Zimbabwe’s morning so far
22.5 overs: Zimbabwe 92-2 (Curran 25, Williams 61) While Williams deals in fours, Curran goes foraging for singles. Between them they’ve gone along at a run a minute this morning. Williams takes a blow to the wrist now as Tongue beats him with a full delivery, so the physio comes on and drinks are taken one ball ahead of schedule.
22nd over: Zimbabwe 89-2 (Curran 22, Williams 61) If Williams has a weakness, it’s the inside edge. He perished to one yesterday, playing on to Shoaib Bashir, and he almost dies the same death today as he gets away with a Harrow drive off Atkinson. But he bounces back with yet another classy drive, caressed past cover point’s left hand. He’s into the 60s already and now needs only 39 runs off 45 balls to pinch Bennett’s record.
Fifty to Sean Williams!
21st over: Zimbabwe 83-2 (Curran 22, Williams 55) Tongue continues and Williams, pushing his left foot back towards fine leg, plays another dreamy drive to reach 50 off only 42 balls. To celebrate, he immediately adds a crunching cut. Williams has been as good to watch as Brian Bennett was yesterday and may be eyeing his record for the fastest Test hundred by a Zimbabwean.
20th over: Zimbabwe 73-2 (Curran 21, Williams 46) It’s a double change as Cook hands over to Gus Atkinson. He runs in with the wind ruffling his shirt and quite a defensive field by Stokes’ standards – just two slips and a gully. That doesn’t stop Williams piercing the ring with another of his crisp drives.
19th over: Zimbabwe 68-2 (Curran 20, Williams 42) Stokes takes himself off and turns to Josh Tongue, whose extra pace proved too much for Craig Ervine last night. He persuades Williams to waft outside off with no foot movement. “I like him as a bowler,” says Stuart Broad. “Good pace … adaptability, he can bowl full or go short … he can take wickets in clumps.” Takes one to know one.
18th over: Zimbabwe 66-2 (Curran 19, Williams 41) Stokes has been insulted by his figures (4-0-23-0), Cook rather flattered by his (7-1-12-0 before this over). He gets some good shape now, jagging one ball away off the seam, forcing Williams to pull out of his stroke at the last second. But then Williams sees a fuller length and drives on the up, wide of mid-off. That’s his eighth four in only 33 balls faced.
17th over: Zimbabwe 61-2 (Curran 19, Williams 36) That four from Williams brought up the fifty partnership off only 8.1 overs. Stokes, bowling to Curran, pushes the plus in for four deliveries before going for an easy single, tucked off the pads, and then bowling a wide as he falls over in his delivery stride in the manner of Mark Wood. As with the damaged finger, Stokes seems to be OK.
16th over: Zimbabwe 58-2 (Curran 18, Williams 35) After conceding only five runs in six overs, Cook goes for a few as both batters make a bid to be in the next Zimbabwean coaching manual. Curran plays a studious on-drive for three; Williams puts it in the shade with a rippling off-drive for four.
15th over: Zimbabwe 51-2 (Curran 15, Williams 31) Stokes draws another thick edge out of Curran, but it doesn’t go to hand and it’s a no-ball anyway. After demonstrating an immaculate forward-defence, Curran plays an uncertain pull and comes close to spooning it to square leg. The camera shows a close-up of Curran smiling that may remind Tom van der Gucht of Curran’s younger brother, Sam.
14th over: Zimbabwe 47-2 (Curran 12, Williams 31) As if he’s read that last sentence, Curran suddenly goes down the track to Cook – although when he gets there, he decides that discretion is the better part of valour and plays a defensive shot.
“I like the look of Sam Cook,” says Tom van der Gucht, “quite literally as he has a similar appearance to one of my all-time favourite X-Factor contestants, Olly Murs, from the glory days of watching it whilst following Stuart Heritage’s Guardian live blog.” There speaks a true OBOer.
13th over: Zimbabwe 46-2 (Curran 11, Williams 31) Curran is dropped! By Stokes himself, getting his hands to a loose drive but unable to cling on. For a nasty moment it looks as if Stokes may have broken a finger, but he only winces for a moment.
When Curran nudges a single, Sean Williams smacks two fours – a cut and a pull. Stokes tries a yorker but Williams spots it and plays a dead bat. He has 31 off 21 balls, while his team-mates have 14 off 57 between them.
12th over: Zimbabwe 37-2 (Curran 10, Williams 23) At the other end it’s Sam Cook, England’s Steady Eddie. A caption reveals that his average speed in the match has been 78mph. He starts with a maiden, keeping Williams quiet.
11th over: Zimbabwe 37-2 (Curran 10, Williams 23) Stokes starts with a loosener on the pads and Sean Williams nudges it for a single. Then he slots straight into top gear, sending a spicy lifter through to Jamie Smith. The next ball takes a thick edge as Ben Curran plays a hurried shovel. It’s close enough to gully to have Stokes leaping in the air, but it goes away for four – Curran’s first boundary in the 39 balls he has faced in the match. When Stokes swings the ball back in, Curran picks up two off the other edge. They all count.
And Stokes decides that the bowling will be opened by … himself.
Ben Stokes leads England out as Jerusalem rings out around Trent Bridge. The stands look about half-full.
Breaking news: India have a new captain
India’s captain for the Test tour of England will be … Shubman Gill. The board must have been tempted to appoint the great Jasprit Bumrah, but they’ve decided to let him concentrate on knocking the stumps over.
Gill, who opens the batting, has strong credentials after leading Gujarat Titans to the top of this year’s IPL table (and averaging 50 himself). He has captained India five times in T20s but never in a Test. At 25 he is on the young side for a Test captain and his deputy will be Rishabh Pant, who’s 27, so this is a fresh start for India following the retirement of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
There are still a couple of veterans in the 18-man squad in Ravi Jadeja and KL Rahul. But Mohammed Shami has been left out as he makes his way back from injury, so English crowds will miss out on some sumptuous swing bowling.
Full squad: Shubman Gill (capt), Rishabh Pant (vice-capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Druv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.
Preamble
Morning everyone and welcome to the third day of the men’s international summer. Is anybody old enough to remember when Test cricket was a slow process?
This match is moving fast even by modern standards. The first day was all about runs, as England piled up 498, including 200 after tea. The second day was all about wickets, 14 of them spread across three innings. Even Brian Bennett, who bagged the headlines with his fearless hundred, found time to get out twice.
The upshot is that Zimbabwe need another 270 runs to make England bat again. And England need another seven wickets to wrap up an innings victory. It could be all over by lunchtime, as long as the rain holds off.
Even in a Test mismatch there are plenty of sub-plots. Can Ben Curran, already the only member of his talented family with an international century, make one in a Test? Can Sam Cook use the cloud cover to show that medium-fast bowling still matters? Can Shoaib Bashir keep taking just enough Test wickets to stay in the team, or is he just keeping a place warm for Jacob Bethell? Can Sean Williams continue to rattle along at two runs a ball? We shall see.
Play starts at 11am BST, weather permitting.
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