There were periods of resistance, some eye-catching shots and supporters cheering them on from the stands. But Zimbabwe could not prevent the inevitable or even reach the fourth day. England, inspired by six wickets from Shoaib Bashir, wrapped up this one-off Test by an innings and 45 runs.
Even factoring in lowly opposition who froze on day one and could only battle for respectability thereafter, nine wickets in the match added up to another chapter in Bashir’s remarkable rise. After all, he was plugging away on loan for Glamorgan at the start of the summer and had just two victims to show for it.
Things change when Bashir slips on an England shirt and pops up the collar like Eric Cantona back in the day. Assisted by a breeze and pumped full of weapons-grade confidence by Ben Stokes, the 21-year-old got the ball to drift and drop on Zimbabwe’s batters in a manner that bodes well for the days ahead. India are up next and England need their spinner in form.
It was needed, too. Tasked with backing up their efforts from the previous day, England’s seamers struggled for impact a second time around. Sam Cook was struggling to summon up his county form on debut, while Gus Atkinson was clearly nursing a sore quad muscle and sent down three overs. Josh Tongue, though dutifully pounding in to deliver a short-ball plan for his captain, was not quite extracting the same bite as witnessed 24 hours earlier.
They were also met by a second stirring pushback from Zimbabwe to follow Brian Bennett’s whizz-bang century on day two. Following on and resuming on 30 for two, a fourth-wicket stand worth 122 runs from Sean Williams and Ben Curran – the former dashing, the latter digging in – was giving rise to thoughts of a wicketless morning. Only Stokes looked threatening among the quicks.
But on the stroke of lunch an arm ball from Bashir beat a sweep by Williams on 88 and delivered a tight lbw. Curran slapped one straight to Stokes at cover after the restart to leave Zimbabwe 142 for four, 158 runs arrears, with only a dashing 60 from the experienced Sikandar Raza softening what followed.
Bashir, as Stokes stressed after the win, is not the finished article. But he is a quick learner, as shown by his growing improvement to the right-handers. After unstitching the Zimbabwe lower order – the juiciest being another dipper that castled Tafadzwa Tsiga – those county struggles felt a distant memory.
While Stokes was delighted for Bashir, he was simply in awe at the catch that produced his own wicket. Harry Brook was the fielder in question, producing a one-handed screamer above his head at second slip to remove Wesley Madhevere for 31. Having left Stuart Broad aghast on this ground with a similar stunner 10 years ago, Stokes was now the one wide-eyed.
Beyond the niggle to Atkinson, and perhaps some concerns at Cook looking a bit toothless on day two, it added up to a pretty satisfactory outing for England. Most encouraging was probably Stokes sending down 11.2 overs without the body creaking. That he extracted good movement from a batter-friendly surface was an added bonus.
While he would have liked some time in the middle, his top order cashed in on the first day with centuries for Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope. The subject of the latter’s place was the captain’s only gripe, insisting his suggestion of an instant return for Jacob Bethell before the match had been misinterpreted. After Pope’s 171, even against a callow attack on a high-scoring ground, Bethell will surely have to wait his turn.
As for Zimbabwe, it is not often a team swept aside by an innings is the one doing the lap of honour. But after waiting 22 years to play in England, and Bennett etching his name in history, they were well within their rights to thank their wonderful fans. It may not have been much of a contest out in the middle but this was still a significant Test match.
