The Test match at Trent Bridge between England and Zimbabwe is under threat of interruption from rain from day three onwards.
England began their home summer on Thursday (May 22), with their first Test match against Zimbabwe for 22 years. They got off to a flying start, with Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett putting on 130 runs in the first session. After lunch, they accelerated further and pushed the run rate to over five an over.
The pace of their scoring could be instrumental in forcing a result in the four-day match, with rain set to disrupt the third day. Duckett reached a run-a-ball century in the middle session, with England still having lost no wickets by half an hour after the lunch interval. The weather is set fair for the first two days, and will likely also remain dry on day four.
One-off Test, England vs Zimbabwe
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ENG vs ZIM weather forecast: Will rain interrupt the Trent Bridge Test?
Different weather forecasts predict at least partial rain during the day on Saturday (May 24, day three). BBC weather predicts the highest chance of disruption in the morning, with light rain at a 52 per cent likelihood at the scheduled start time of 11am. However, it also predicts dry spells, with heightened chances of further rain towards the end of the day.
Accuweather puts the likelihood of rain on day three higher at 80 per cent, predicting one-and-a-half hours of rain during the day. They differ from BBC Weather in predicting consistent rain throughout the day.
The Met Office gives the most optimistic prediction of the forecast, with the highest chance of rain throughout the day set at 30 per cent.
With the start they have got and rain on the radar, England might well look to force things with the bat and even declare by the end of the first day to give themselves enough time to bowl out Zimbabwe twice.
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