England crushed Zimbabwe by an innings and 45 runs in a one-off test at Trent Bridge on Saturday, wrapping up the contest inside three days.
Off-spinner Shoaib Bashir spun the visitors into submission with a career-best 6-81 in the second innings, as Zimbabwe – following on – was bowled out for 255 in its first test on English soil in 22 years.
The 20-year-old Bashir, who took 5-70 against the West Indies at the same venue last year, finished with match figures of 9-143 in a dominant display.
Sean Williams (88) and Ben Curran fell to Bashir on either side of lunch, with Sikandar Raza’s breezy 60 merely delaying England’s win.
England laid the platform for victory in the opening match of its 2025 home season with a commanding first-innings total of 565-6 declared, as its top three – Zak Crawley (124), Ben Duckett (140) and Ollie Pope (171) – all scored centuries.
Although opener Brian Bennett struck Zimbabwe’s fastest test hundred, off 97 balls, the tourists were still dismissed for 265, with England captain Ben Stokes taking two wickets in his first match in any form of cricket this year.
Bashir, whose two first-class wickets this season had cost an average of 152 apiece, put some indifferent county form behind him with 3-62 in the first innings.
Stokes’ side next faces India in a five-match series starting in June.
Zimbabwe returns to the test arena with a two-match series at home against neighboring South Africa in June and July.
England 1st innings: 565-6 dec (O. Pope 171, B. Duckett 140, Z. Crawley 124, H. Brook 58; B. Muzarabani 3-143)
Zimbabwe 1st innings: 265 (B. Bennett 139; S. Bashir 3-62)
Zimbabwe 2nd innings: 255 (S. Williams 88, S. Raza 60; S. Bashir 6-81)
Result: England won by an innings and 45 runs.
