England Score Record 498-3 Against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge

England's top three batsmen—Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, and Ollie Pope—each scored centuries on the first day of the Test match against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge, leading to a dominant total of 498 for three. Their combined effort set a new record for the most runs scored on the first day of a Test in England, surpassing the 475 runs made by Donald Bradman's Australian team in 1934. Duckett was the quickest century-maker with 140 runs off 134 balls, while Crawley and Pope contributed 124 and an unbeaten 169 respectively, with Pope eyeing his highest test score in the next session. Despite questions over Crawley and Pope's positions and the anticipated return of Jacob Bethell, their performances against a weakened Zimbabwe attack, missing key bowler Richard Ngavara due to injury, strengthened their case for selection. England maintained a high scoring rate of around 5.65 runs per over, punishing a largely ineffective Zimbabwe bowling attack that struggled with line and length. The match also marked Joe Root surpassing 13,000 Test runs before being dismissed for 34, while debutant bowler Sam Cook did not get to bowl due to the decision to bat first.