ENG vs ZIM One-Off Test 2025: Zimbabwe lost the one-off Test match against England within three days as the hosts defeated them by an innings at Trent Bridge on Saturday. While chasing England's mammoth target of 565 runs, the visitors were skittled out for just 265 and 255 runs.

The Ben Stokes-led side won the match by an innings and 45 runs in what was considered a preparation for the five-match Test series against India, which would be held next month, These efforts don't justify the valiant effort put by Zimbabwe.

Playing its first Test match against England after 22 years and considered as underdogs, Zimbabwe suffered a huge blow on the first day itself, when Richard Ngarava, who is one of their four seamers, had sustained a back spasm after he had bowled just nine overs and didn't feature in the game after that.

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The hosts had posted a mammoth target of 498/3, which was their highest-ever target during a home Test match, and then declared their first innings total on the morning of Day 2, as they were fully aware that they had to take just 18 wickets with Ngarava also not batting.

Even though Brian Benett scored a brilliant first hundred, which helped the visitors bounce back on Day 2, it was Sean Williams, who led the attack from the front on Saturday and made the English bowlers look clueless as he scored his sixth Test hundred.

Williams also survived a nervy DRS call after he had scored 88 runs off 82 balls.

Shoaib Bashir's delivery had hit him on the knee-roll and the on-field umpire thus gave him out. But in the replay, it was shown, that the ball had barely touched the leg stump.

Williams received a huge applause from the fans before lunch and thus the visitors' hopes of winning the match faded after his dismissal.

Zimbabwe suffered a batting collapse post-lunch. Sikandar Raza did score a gritty knock of 60 runs off 68 balls but his efforts went in vain as they had lost six wickets and had scored just 109 runs.

Shoaib Bashir registered match-winning figures of 6/81, which was also his fourth five-for in the longest format and he thus registered his career-best haul of 9/143.