England's top three achieved a unique repeat on Day One of their Test match against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge, each scoring centuries as the home side piled on more than 450 runs.
Having been put in to bat on the opening day of the men's international summer, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett soon had Zimbabwe under the pump. Duckett reached his half-century off the final ball of the 16th over of the day, and was eyeing up a century by lunch, with Crawley on 46.
Facing his hundredth ball of the innings, Duckett brought up his fifth Test century with a single into the leg side. It was the Nottinghamshire batter's first Test hundred at his home ground. Crawley took things slower by Duckett's aggressive standards, content to let his partner take the lead. By the time Duckett slapped a ball from Wessly Madhevere to cover, Crawley was on 78. He was joined by Ollie Pope at the crease, in an important match for the pair, whose places in England's XI are under threat after Ben Stokes' hinted Jacob Bethell would return to the side against India.
Pope got going off his second ball at the crease, hitting a four through deep third man to get off the mark. As Crawley continued towards three figures, Pope raced to a half century, getting there just after Tea off 48 balls. Seventeen balls later, Crawley reached his hundred – his first in the format since his century at Old Trafford in the 2023 Ashes.
Read more: A day-one declaration on the cards? Rain threatens latter stages of Trent Bridge Test
After Crawley got out missing a sweep for 124, Pope reached his own century off 109 balls, his eighth against eight different opponents – a record. Pope's century also brought another record, marking the first time the same top three have all made hundreds in the same Test match more than once.
Crawley, Duckett and Pope all made Test centuries in the first innings of the Rawalpindi Test in 2022, which was also the first time they had batted in England's Test top three together. The only other occasions of top threes all scoring hundreds in the same innings for England came in the Brisbane Ashes Test in 2010, and against South Africa at Lord's in 1924. It's also the first time the feat has been achieved in England at a venue other than Lord's.
Full list: Top three batters all making Test centuries in the same innings
| Team | Batters | Innings | Opposition | Venue | Year |
| England | Jack Hobbs (211) Herbert Sutcliffe (122) Frank Woolley (134) | 2 | South Africa | Lord's | 1924 |
| Australia | Colin McDonald (110) Arthur Morris (111) Neil Harvey (133) | 2 | West Indies | Queen's Park Oval | 1955 |
| Australia | Bill Lawry (210) Bob Simpson (201) Bob Cowper (102) | 1 | West Indies | Bridgetown | 1965 |
| India | Sunil Gavaskar (172) Kris Srikkanth (116) Mohinder Amarnath (138) | 1 | Australia | Sydney | 1986 |
| Australia | Mark Taylor (111) Michael Slater (152) David Boon (164*)* | 1 | England | Lord's | 1993 |
| South Africa | Herschelle Gibbs (147) Gary Kirsten (220) Jacques Kallis (157*) | 1 | Zimbabwe | Harare | 2001 |
| New Zealand | Mark Richardson (145) Lou Vincent (106) Scott Styris (119) | 1 | India | Mohali | 2003 |
| India | Dinesh Karthik (129) Wasim Jaffer (138) Rahul Dravid (129)** | 1 | Bangladesh | Mirpur | 2007 |
| South Africa | Graeme Smith (107) Neil McKenzie (138) Hashim Amla (104*) | 3 | England | Lord's | 2008 |
| India | Gautam Gambhir (167) Virender Sehwag (131) Rahul Dravid (144) | 1 | Sri Lanka | Kanpur | 2009 |
| England | Andrew Strauss (110) Alastair Cook (235*) Jonathan Trott (135*) | 3 | Australia | Brisbane | 2010 |
| South Africa | Dean Elgar (113) Aiden Markram (143) Hashim Amla (132) | 1 | Bangladesh | Bloemfontein | 2017 |
| New Zealand | Jeet Raval (132) Tom Latham (161) Kane Williamson (200*) | 2 | Bangladesh | Hamilton | 2019 |
| Pakistan | Shan Masood (135) Abid Ali (174) Azhar Ali (118)*** | 3 | Sri Lanka | Karachi | 2019 |
| England | Zak Crawley (122) Ben Duckett (107) Ollie Pope (108) | 1 | Pakistan | Rawalpindi | 2022 |
| Sri Lanka | Nishan Madushka (205) Dimuth Karunaratne (115) Kusal Mendis (245)**** | 1 | Ireland | Galle | 2023 |
| England | Zak Crawley (124) Ben Duckett (140) Ollie Pope (129*) | 1 | Zimbabwe | Trent Bridge | 2025 |
**India No.4 Sachin Tendulkar also scored a century in the same innings
***Pakistan No.4 Babar Azam made an unbeaten century in the same innings
****Sri Lanka No.4 Angelo Matthews made an unbeaten century in the same innings
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
