Zimbabwe centurion Brian Bennett is basking in the feeling of becoming only the second man from his nation to hit a Test century at Trent Bridge.

“To get that hundred in front of a packed Trent Bridge, and a lot of Zimbabweans here, was unbelievable,” beamed 21-year-old Bennett.

"Before that, I could hear them singing the war cries we always hear at Harare Sports Club, 

“It’s my first time of playing England, and I enjoyed every moment out there today.”

Bennett will join the likes of Sir Donald Bradman, Sachin Tendulkar, and Brian Lara on the visiting honours board at Trent Bridge, as well as countryman Murray Goodwin.

He revealed that, having seen painter Dennis Davey in action this morning following England’s trio of centurions on Day One, that a particular moment was especially inspiring.

“To be up on the board with all those names, it’s unbelievable,” he said. “I feel very fortunate, and it’s inspiring.

“I actually saw them this morning putting Zak Crawley’s name up there, and I thought ‘that would be nice to be on there.’ A few hours later, I was.”

An additional accolade to Bennett’s hundred was not just the knock itself, but the rate at which it was scored; coming off just 97 balls, it was the fastest ever at Test level by a Zimbabwean.

“That’s just my game plan, I see ball, hit ball,” laughed the prodigious Bennett. “If it’s in my area, I’m going to try and hit it!”

Meanwhile, England off-spinner Shoaib Bashir credited the Trent Bridge atmosphere in helping him perform at his best as he became the youngest player to take 50 Test wickets for the Three Lions.

“I’ve enjoyed bowling here. Obviously, I got five wickets here last time, and coming here into this game, I had a bit of confidence because of that,” said Bashir.

“I think it’s the fans too though, and just the feeling of being back in an England shirt was very special, so it was nice to come back.”