Jamie Smith's career-best 184* and Harry Brook's 158 in a counterattacking 303-run partnership helped England avoid the follow-on in the second Test at Edgbaston, but a bag full of ducks otherwise and a Mohammad Siraj six-fer ensured India secured a significant lead of 180. To that, the visitors added 64/1 more in the final hour before stumps were drawn on Day 3 in overcast Birmingham.
DAY 3 - REPORT
Siraj helps India get ahead after mammoth stand by Brook-Smith
Sira got his fourth Test five-wicket haul © Getty
It was an ominous start for the hosts who found themselves under immense pressure 10 balls into the day as Siraj struck on successive deliveries to prise out two key wickets. First to depart was Root, who tried to flick a leg-side delivery and tickled it to the left of Rishabh Pant behind the stumps. Ben Stokes was then greeted with a mean short ball first up that climbed on him awkwardly and kissed the handle of his bat on his way to the 'keeper.
Down to 84/5, England looked in serious trouble but the arrival of Smith bought urgency in their scoring. And they were further aided by a lean slip cordon that allowed for easy scoring opportunities. The English wicketkeeper sent the hat-trick ball straight down the ground for a four to get going, and thus began a stunning counterpunch that lasted for over two sessions.
Brook took cue and started finding regular boundaries too off the Indian pacers. He reached his half-century in 72 balls, driving through the covers beautifully for three. At the other end, Smith laid into Prasidh Krishna to almost catch up with the half-centurion in the space of six balls. Smith plucked four boundaries and a six in a 23-run over to race to 38-ball 49 by drinks. The English wicketkeeper was relentless in foiling India's short-ball tactic, effortlessly pulling Prasidh to the ropes.
India introduced spin from both ends, but Smith welcomed Washington Sundar with back-to-back drives through extra cover to go on to outscore his partner at the other end. He then took on Ravindra Jadeja with a four and six the following over. At the stroke of Lunch, he brought up an 80-ball century with the second of the consecutive fours off Jadeja - sharing the record with his partner at the other end. The early setbacks notwithstanding, the session belonged to the hosts with 172 runs coming off it.
Through Smith and Brook's record-breaking knocks, England went on to avoid the follow-on in a wicket-less afternoon session that added to India's frustration. Smith and Brook didn't move at the same breakneck pace as in the morning, but were effective enough to keep India at bay.
Brook raised his ninth Test hundred - in only 27 Tests - with a cut off Prasidh soon after Lunch before Smith, luckily, was reprieved on 121 when Rishabh Pant grassed a tough chance to his right. Undeterred, the duo reached the 200-run partnership milestone next ball, making it the first instance of an English pair doing so against India for a sixth-wicket stand or lower. Barring that drop, there were barely any chances offered by either of the two set batters.
After slowing down a tad, the boundary count spiked again for Smith once Nitish Reddy came back into the attack. He marched into the 140s with a cover-drive and a pull back-to-back off the medium pacer, and then brought up his maiden Test 150 off 144 deliveries - the fifth fastest for England. The spinners returned from both ends after the changed ball yielded 22 runs in just five overs, and managed to curb the free flow. Nonetheless, the pair brought up the 250-run mark in their partnership by the 70th over.
Right after Tea, India took an LBW appeal upstairs in the very first over of the session when Brook failed in an attempted reverse-sweep. However, the ball-tracking showed the delivery to be missing the stumps and Brook continued to bring up his 150 in 222 deliveries.
India took the new ball as soon as it was made available and it brought the change of fortunes the visitors were hoping for. Once again, it was Akash who got the breakthrough. Just after the sixth-wicket pair reached the 300-run milestone, the pacer got one to nip back in sharply from outside off to beat the inside-edge and crash into Brook's off-stump.
The collapse was quick from thereon. Chris Woakes was alongside Smith when England avoided the follow-on, but the allrounder didn't last long. Going for an expansive drive, Wokaes instead sent a thick outside-edge to first slip where Karun Nair completed a low catch. Akash finished with figures of 4 for 88.
Siraj cleaned up the tail. He bagged his fourth of the innings on review after being turned down in an LBW appeal against Bryon Carse. But Siraj got the ball to nip back in and pinged the English bowler on the front pad plumb in front as he came forward in defense.
Smith, who had meanwhile claimed the record for the highest Test score by an English batter upon reaching 174, was left to fend with the tail and began to free his arms frequently now. A slot ball from Akash got the treatment it deserved with a maximum over long-on ropes and one ball later, a four to long-off. the counterattack was short-lived though, for Siraj ensured the English 'keeper run out of partners at the other end.
Josh Tongue asked for a desperate review upon being given LBW, but the ball tracking only backed Siraj. His fourth Test fifer secured, Siraj capped it off with a sixth scalp as he cleaned up Shoaib Bashir. England's last three all failed to get off the mark and the hosts had a total of six ducks in their first-innings scorecard while the Smith-Brook dup Brook accounted for 342 of the team's 407.
In the 13 overs India openers had to negotiate under lights, as the weather turned dark suddenly, runs and boundaries flowed rather easily. Yashasvi Jaiswal became the joint-fastest - alongside Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag - to enter the 2000 Test runs club (40 innings) for India upon crossing 10 in the second innings with a lucky edge that flew through gully to the fence.
In the 51-run stand, the Indian openers had hit 11 boundaries between them already forcing England into an early bowling change. And Tongue did the needful when he trapped the left-hander LBW in front but drama ensued when England objected to Jaiswal's belated DRS appeal. Despite the home team's reservations, the review was accepted by the umpires only for the ball-tracking to vindicate the on-field call. At the stroke of stumps, Jaiswal was given marching orders after a brisk 22-ball hand worth 28 that included half a dozen boundaries.
India's lead at the end of Day 3 stood at 244 runs with nine wickets in hand, but the rain forecast on the remaining two days of the game could soil their chances of drawing level in the series.
