Bashir claims 6-81 as England hand Zimbabwe massive defeat in Only Test

Nottingham, May 25 (IANS) Young off-spinner Shoaib Bashir claimed 6/81 in completing a match haul of 9/143 as England bundled out Zimbabwe for 255 to complete a massive innings and 45 runs victory in the Only Test of the tour here on Saturday.

Having posted a massive 565/6 declared on the back of big hundreds by Zak Crawley (124), Ben Duckett (140) and Ollie Pope (171), England had bundled out Zimbabwe for 265 in 63.2 overs despite Brian Bennett's 139 off 143, laced with 26 fours.

On Saturday's third day of the match, Zimbabwe started their second innings at the overnight score of 30/2 with Sean Williams batting on 22 and Ben Curran on 2. They added 122 runs for the third wicket before Williams got out for 88 runs off 82 balls, hitting 16 fours in the process. He became Bashir's first victim of the day, trapped LBW.

With Bashir taking charge of the proceedings, England bundled out Zimbabwe for 255 in their second innings to seal victory.

Sikandar Raza waged a lone battle, scoring 60 off 68 balls while Wessly Madhevere contributed 31. Bashir, who had claimed 3-62 in the first innings, finished with 6/81 in 18 overs for a match haul of 9-143 as England romped to victory.

Earlier, on the opening day of the match, Experienced batter Joe Root scored 34 on the opening day of the lone Test against Zimbabwe and in the process became the fastest batter to reach 13,000 runs in red-ball cricket on Thursday. Root reached the milestone of 13,000 runs, becoming only the fifth batter ever to do so in his 153rd Test, scoring 13,006 runs in 279 innings at an average of 50.80. He has scored 36 hundreds and 65 half-centuries with a highest score of 262.

Brief scores:

England 565/6 decl beat Zimbabwe 265 and 255 all out in 59 overs (Sean Williams 88, Zikandar Raza 60, Ben Curran 37; Shoaib Bashir 6-81) by innings and 42 runs.

--IANS

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