Zimbabwe win toss, put England into bat in one-off test

NOTTINGHAM, England : Zimbabwe won the toss and put hosts England into bat on the opening day of the four-day test at a Trent Bridge on Thursday, with visiting captain Craig Ervine having no hesitation in deciding to bowl under cloudy skies.

"Hopefully, we can utilise the conditions," he said at the toss.

The one-off test, the first for Zimbabwe in England in more than 20 years, represents a rare opportunity for the southern Africans to test themselves as the hosts prepare for a five-test series against India before the Ashes in Australia.

England handed a debut to seamer Sam Cook and there is a return to the test arena after a two-year injury-enforced absence for fellow quick Josh Tongue.

Zimbabwe welcome back key all-rounder Sikandar Raza after he missed their home test loss to Ireland in February and the two-test series in Bangladesh, which ended 1-1 last month.

Tanaka Chivanga also starts after recovering from injury.

England - Ben Stokes (captain), Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Gus Atkinson, Josh Tongue, Sam Cook, Shoaib Bashir.

Zimbabwe - Craig Ervine (captain), Brian Bennett, Ben Curran, Sean Williams, Sikandar Raza, Wessly Madhevere, Tafadzwa Tsiga (wicketkeeper), Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani, Tanaka Chivanga, Victor Nyauchi.

(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Ed Osmond)