Duckett, Crawley both pass 50 during wicketless morning session

Lunch England 130 for 0 (Duckett 75*, Crawley 53*) vs Zimbabwe

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett put on England's first century partnership since June 2023, and highest in 28 Tests going back to December 2022, on the opening morning of a six-Test home summer. Both brought up half-centuries: Duckett's a speedy one off 47 balls and Crawley's, his first in his 11 innings, from 76. Their lunch score of 130 is their second-highest together after 233 in Rawalpindi.

The ease with which they scored their runs meant that Zimbabwe's return to England for the first time in 22 years was humbling. Captain Craig Ervine looked up at cloudy skies and not down, at a flat surface and fast outfield, when he chose to bowl first and he may look back on it with regret. There was hardly any swing in the first hour and though they kept things tight in phases early on, could not create enough pressure to take any wickets.

The workload was shared between Zimbabwe's four seamers, who had their moments but did not find consistency. Blessing Muzarabani, the tallest of the quicks and the one with the biggest reputation, looked the most threatening but a lack of express pace and too many boundary-balls meant they let England get away.

Muzarabani had a half-chance in his third over, when Crawley drove the ball back to him but he could not get his left hand down in time to take the catch. By then, Crawley had entered double figures for the first time in the first innings this season and was batting with a circumspection that is not often associated with his style of play. The real Crawley came out when he sliced Ngarava through point in the next over and the early tension broke. Duckett attacked Muzarabani off the front and back foot and then hit the shot of the morning when he pulled Ngarava off his eyebrows for a vicious boundary.

After 10 overs, Ervine made his first change and introduced Tanaka Chavanga but he struggled with his line and length in an opening over that cost 12. He adjusted well and found some swing soon after but the openers had bedded in. Duckett had a nervy moment when he miscued a drive off Chavanga into the off side but there was no fielder close enough to attempt a catch. He lashed the next ball over the slips and to the boundary to bring up a 14th career half-century.

Crawley's fifty came in Victor Nyauchi's first over, when he whipped the ball through square leg and ran a comfortable two. Nyauchi and Muzarabani closed out the session, with the lone spinner, Sikandar Raza, yet to bowl but set for a big job later in the day especially if the openers keep going.