The inequality between England and Zimbabwe as Test nations has been reflected on the field over the first half of this one-off Test match at Trent Bridge. Thursday’s flow of runs for the former was followed by a cascade of wickets from the latter, as Zimbabwe finished day two following on, 30 for 2, after being dismissed for 265 in their first innings, still 270 shy of England’s mammoth 565 for 6 declared.

And yet, the story on Friday was not of the dominating team, but of the dominated, as a lone hand by opening batter Brian Bennett to the tune of 139 made this one-way traffic watchable. Bennett’s second century in the format now ranks as Zimbabwe’s fastest, clocking in at 97 deliveries, and only their third against England.

The 21-year-old, playing in his seventh Test, now has four fifty-plus score in 12 innings. He did not take a backward step, with 104 of his runs from fours, most of them sweetly struck, including three in a row off Gus Atkinson that took him to three figures. Boundary numbers 18 (a square drive) and 19 (a punch down the ground) moved him to 99, before Atkinson offered enough width for a back-cut that was steered expertly through deep third.

An impassioned celebration was matched in the stands, as pockets of Zimbabwe supporters erupted with glee, in amongst a strong ovation from locals. And he kept all enterained with further crisp strikes, particularly down the ground, before England finally decided to test him with short deliveries.

They were vindicated when Josh Tongue, playing his first Test since the 2023 Ashes encounter at Lord’s, dug the penultimate legal delivery of the 53rd over into the armpit of Bennett, who fended to Ollie Pope at short leg. An acrobatic take was soon for nothing as replays showed Tongue had overstepped.

Bennett’s reprieve, on 139, was the fourth he had been given. But he could not make it count this time as the same duo combined legally to remove the right-hander in similar fashion, albeit with a far simpler take for Pope. Just 13 overs of play later, Bennett was making a second walk back, trapped LBW by Atkinson as the first to go in the follow-on innings for just one from nine deliveries.

As frustrating as England found Bennett’s enterprise, they were never really up against it, barring a period when his 65- and 60-run stands with Craig Ervine and Sean Williams respectively had the visitors sitting relatively pretty on 156 for 2. By the end, the hosts were able to tick off a few nuggets that may come to benefit them when India arrive next month.

Harry Brook’s morning cameo – eventually the last man to fall, for 58 – was a broadly useful hit out against a weary attack who were still a man down with left armer Richard Ngarava unable to take the field after his back spasm on day one. Five overs into Zimbabwe’s first innings, Sam Cook  having become the first England debutant to bowl the first ball in his maiden innings since Martin McCague did so here in 1993 against Australia, registered his maiden Test wicket when Ben Curran edged to Brook at second slip.

That would be Cook’s lot from his opening 17 overs in the format, 1 for 72 and a fair few narrow misses, including Bennett edging through the cordon and past his own stumps on 16 and 32 respectively. But there was better luck for Shoaib Bashir,   who became the youngest English bowler to take 50 Test wickets with the first of his 3 for 62 that has now more than doubled his first-class haul this summer. His first two across three matches for Glamorgan had come at a grim average of 152.00.

There was also encouragement for Ben Stokes,  who bagged two wickets in 11 deliveries in his first appearance of the year after replacing Bashir in the attack following a botched caught-and-bowled attempt that split the off-spinners left ring finger.

Brought on first change at the Radcliffe Road End after 12 overs, Bashir started with a full toss that was guided through extra cover by Ervine, before producing a beauty to take the left-hander’s edge, low to Brook at first slip. A bit of bounce then did for Williams, who played onto his stumps.

It looked like Bashir was done for the day when Sikandar Raza, on three, danced down the wicket and smashed back at the bowler, who put in a valiant effort to his right to claim the return catch. Bloodied, and with two balls remaining in his 13th over, Bashir had to leave the field, with Stokes using the opportunity to bowl for the first time since his hamstring operation at the start of the year.

Having teased an over here or there to taper into form, citing bowling as the hardest thing to get right following an extended period out, Stokes almost made an immediate impact. His first legal delivery – having started with a front-foot no ball – squared up Bennett on 89 but was shelled inexplicably by Root at first slip.

The error meant Stokes had to make do with a remarkable spell of two dismissals in 11 balls rather than three in 14. He was finally on the board with a devilish delivery that turned Raza inside-out – this time an edge flying through to Jamie Smith behind the stumps – before Wessly Madhevere was unpicked by the surprise inswinger after a diet of outswingers, handing the No.6 batter a 10-ball duck.

Bashir eventually returned in the evening session, and made up for lost time with an immediate pearler when reintroduced to the attack for the 57th over, bowling Tafadzwa Tsiga through the gate with a classic off-break. An aborted caught-and-bowled chance off Blessing Murzarabani was a wilfully missed opportunity for a fourth, his injured finger clearly a factor, but the end came quickly when Atkinson found the tall quick backing away for the ninth and final dismissal.

Atkinson soon had his third of the day when Bennett was undone by a lack of bounce, and Ervine’s tame bunt to short leg – another for the Tongue-Pope combo – was followed by a slow trudge off from the Zimbabwe captain.

Even allowing for Bennett’s brilliance, it has been a tough couple of days for otherwise willing opponents. Day three promises to be tougher still.

Brief scores:
Zimbabwe 265 in 63.2 overs (Brian Bennett 139, Craig Ervine 42, Sean Williams 25, Tafadzwa Tsiga 22; Gus Atkinson 2-58, Shoaib Bashir 3-62, Ben Stokes 2-11) and [f/o] 30 for 2 in 10 overs (Sean Williams 22*, Ben Curran 4*; Gus Atkinson 1-01)trail  England 565 for 6 dec in 96.3 overs (Ollie Pope 171, Ben Duckett 140, Zak Crawley 124, Harry Brook 58; Blessing Muzarabani 3-141)  by 270 runs

[Cricinfo]