Ben Stokes hinted at a return to his best and Brian Bennett struck a sparkling century before England made Zimbabwe follow on on the second day of the one-off Test at Trent Bridge.
England captain Stokes, playing for the first time since having surgery on his hamstring, took 2-11 in a captivating spell of only 3.2 overs.
Opener Bennett delighted the dancing visiting fans in Nottingham with Zimbabwe’s fastest Test hundred, from 97 balls. His 139 was the backbone of the tourists’ 265 all out.
Off-spinner Shoaib Bashir claimed 3-62 while Josh Tongue, in his first Test for two years, and Sam Cook, on debut, took a wicket each.
Holding a monstrous lead of 300 in the four-day Test and with Saturday’s forecast looking mixed, England asked Zimbabwe to bat again, bowling for the second time to get 10 overs in before the close.
Bennett could not repeat his heroics, trapped leg before by Gus Atkinson, while Craig Ervine lobbed Tongue to short leg to leave Zimbabwe 30-2, still 270 behind.
England earlier declared on 565-6, pushing on from their overnight 498-3.
Ollie Pope added only two more on Friday morning before edging behind for 171, while Harry Brook made a 48-ball half-century, despite having only nine runs from 27 deliveries.
Brook whipped three sixes into the leg side before being bowled to give Blessing Muzarabani a third wicket, at which point Stokes called his team in.
