London, May 23 (UNI) England went all guns blazing on the opening day of the one-off Test against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge.

After losing the toss and being put in to bat first, England took little time to establish their grip over Zimbabwe in their one-off Test on Thursday.

With the top three of Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope scoring blazing tons, the hosts managed to close the day with 498 runs on the board - their fifth-highest haul from one day of Test cricket.

The foundation for the total was laid by openers Duckett and Crawley, who added a staggering 231 runs for the first wicket off just 41.3 overs.

Duckett, who returned for England after impressing with the bat at the ICC Champions Trophy, took the attack to the Zimbabwe bowlers. The left-hander brought up his fifth Test hundred off 100 deliveries, lacing 20 fours and two sixes in his knock of 140, an ICC report said.

He was eventually dismissed by Wessley Madhevere, with Ben Curran completing the catch at cover.

Despite the opening breakthrough, the runs continued to pour with Ollie Pope joining Crawley in the middle. While Crawley took his time to establish himself in the middle, Pope was on the offensive from the get-go.

The duo added another 137 runs for the second wicket before Crawley was dismissed for 124, trapped lbw while attempting a sweep shot off Sikandar Raza.

Getting into his own, Pope continued to inflict further damage to the visitors. The England number three brought up his eighth Test ton, remaining unbeaten for 169 runs from 163 deliveries at stumps.

England’s talismanic batter Joe Root also marked the day by becoming only the fifth batter to score 13000 Test runs.

Root joins the special club alongside Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid.

The former England captain's stay in the middle was cut short by Blessing Muzarabani on a largely forgetful day for the Zimbabwe bowlers.

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