Zimbabwe's Brian Bennett said he felt as if he was back in Harare after a loyal band of travelling fans cheered him all the way to a record-breaking century in a one-off Test against England at Trent Bridge on Friday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The opener, in what is Zimbabwe's first Test in England in 22 years, struck a sparkling 139 off just 143 balls, with over a hundred of those runs coming in boundaries.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
And in reaching his century in 97 balls, Bennett broke the record for the fastest Test hundred by a Zimbabwe batsman that previously belonged to Sean Williams for a 106-ball effort against New Zealand at Bulawayo in 2016.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Unfortunately for Zimbabwe, opener Bennett's heroics were not enough to prevent his side from following-on, with the tourists dismissed for 265 -- exactly 300 runs behind England's imposing first-innings 565-6 declared.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
And come the close of Friday's second day of four, the tourists were facing defeat at 30-2 -- a deficit of 270 runs -- with Bennett out for just one in Zimbabwe's second innings.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
- 'Unbelievable' -<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n But nothing could diminish Bennett's joy in joining Andy Flower and Murray Goodwin as only the third Zimbabwean to score a Test century against England.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Although outnumbered in Nottingham, the Zimbabwe supporters made their presence felt, with many dressed in the colours of their national flag, and an elated Bennett told reporters after stumps: "I could hear them singing the war cries we always get at Harare Sports Club, so it gave me goosebumps a little bit.<\/p>\r\n\r\n "The reception from the crowd was unbelievable -- to do it in England, against England, with my family there, it's going to be a good performance to beat this one."<\/p>\r\n\r\n Trent Bridge staged its first England match in 1899 and Bennett's innings means he will join Goodwin as well as such all-time greats as Donald Bradman, Denis Compton, Vivian Richards, and Geoffrey Boycott on the pavilion honours board dedicated to all those who have scored Test hundreds at Nottinghamshire's headquarters.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Meanwhile Bennett's fellow 21-year-old Shoaib Bashir said he was back in his "happy place" after putting a tough start to the county season behind him with three wickets on Friday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Although England's first-choice spinner, Bashir has been unable to dislodge Jack Leach in the Somerset side and, for the second campaign in a row, was forced into a loan move.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Three matches at Glamorgan yielded just two wickets at 152 apiece but, not for the first time, he found the Test arena a happier hunting ground than the County Championship, with Bashir taking 3-62 in Zimbabwe's first innings.<\/p>\r\n\r\n In the process, Bashir surpassed Steven Finn as the youngest England bowler to reach the landmark of 50 Test wickets.<\/p>\r\n\r\n "I feel like I am very well backed here," said Bashir, thrust into the attack early on by England captain Ben Stokes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n