Key events
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.