England declare at 565-6 following Brook’s quickfire half-century

On day two of this unique Test match at Trent Bridge, Zimbabwe’s suffering was exacerbated by Harry Brook‘s morning fireworks, which led England to declare their first innings at 565 for 6.

The majority of England’s 67 runs were added to their overnight total of 498 for 3, which came in 8.3 overs, thanks to Brook’s 19th 50-plus score, which he reached off 48 deliveries. After Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, and Ollie Pope scored hundreds on the first day, it was more a matter of when than if England would declare in this four-day tournament.

The goal of the morning was not reflected in the seven balls it took to pick up the two runs that moved the hosts to 500 as play got underway under clear blue sky. The goal was to score quickly.

Pope resumed on 169, but he was only able to add a couple before trying to move Tanaka Chivanga up a gear and pushing him behind. When a clear spike appeared on the big screen, England’s vice captain decided to send it upstairs on a whim and didn’t seem to care that he had burned a review.

At this moment, Brook, as usual, decided to take matters into his own hands. A quiet beginning swiftly devolved into a one-man boundary brawl.

From the Radcliffe Road End, Chiavanga appeared to take the brunt of Brook’s attack. He smoked past backward point and then lifted on the charge over mid-off for successive fours. When Blessing Muzarabani, the most dangerous member of the visiting assault, was flipped over to the leg side (backward square leg first, then finer) for two consecutive sixes, a further string of boundaries came from the opposite end.

After a Chivanga bumper had lured a sloppy guide from Brook, who was on 34 at the time, Wellington Masakadza had the chance to stop the momentum, rushing around the boundary to his left at deep third. The hands failed, but the dive was perfect and the ground had been made up well. The ball ultimately bounced in front of the sponge, and—you got it—as Brook made a cut, that boundary was followed by another.

After a well-planned acceleration from 10 off 28, he reached 54 from 48 deliveries with an incredible lassooed pull over square leg, a third six off Muzarabani. His tenth boundary came off a misplaced bunt across midwicket that managed to reach the rope. His hopes of becoming the fourth hitter to reach three digits in this innings were dashed, though, when he tried to dab behind third and it bounced back against his own stumps.

Muzarabani finished with 3 for 143, which was no less than his third dismissal and the reason for the declaration. In the England captain’s first competitive innings of the year, he had already knocked out Ben Stokes. Stokes was obviously taken aback by Zimbabwe’s captain’s quick bounce and aggression, as his 9 off 13 was neither here nor there.

While Brook’s reprieve was followed by a life for Jamie Smith, put down by wicketkeeper Tafadzwa Tsiga diving to his right, in front of first slip, Chivanga’s efforts were only rewarded with one dismissal (that of Pope) and two drops.