Siraj’s six wicket haul helps India stay ahead on bizarre day three

Birmingham: Mohammed Siraj’s stellar six wicket-haul kept India ahead in the second Test against England after counter-attacking hundreds from Jamie Smith and Harry Brook threatened to take the game away from the visitors on an extraordinary third day here on Friday.

Siraj struck twice in the second over of the day to leave England on the mat at 84 for five before Brook (158 off 234) and Smith

(184 not out off 207) combined to script the hosts’ remarkable recovery with a 303-run stand off 368 balls.

England eventually ended with 407 all out in response to India’s mammoth 578 all out.

At stumps, India were 64 for one in 13 overs with the loss of Yashasvi Jaiswal (28 off 22), leading England by 244 runs.

K L Rahul (28 batting off 38) looked in sublime touch and was joined by Karun Nair (7 batting off 18) in the middle after the left-handed opener was trapped in front by Josh Tongue amid grey skies with floodlights on.

England hammered as many as 172 runs in the morning session despite having lost half their side, before adding another 106 runs in a wicketless afternoon session.

With the wicket not helping either the pacers or spinners, India were desperately hoping the second new ball would do the trick for them. And it did with Siraj (6/70) and Akash Deep (4/88) taking England’s last five wickets for 20 runs, giving India a healthy 180-run first innings lead.

Both the pacers got the new ball to seam around and the tail was polished off quickly after Akash Deep had Brook’s off-stump uproot with a nip backer.

While both Brook and Smith produced special efforts, it was the latter who shifted the momentum in the morning session with his bold strokeplay. In the process, Smith surpassed Alec Stewart to record the highest score by an England wicket-keeper batter.

For India, the performance of spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar left a lot to be desired on a flat pitch. On the pace front, Prasidh Krishna was expensive leaking 5.50 runs per over.

In the afternoon session, Brook enhanced his lofty credentials with a ninth hundred in 27 Tests.

The Indian bowlers were able to bring down the run-rate but did not create enough chances to break a marathon stand between Brook and Smith.

The short-ball plan failed in the morning, prompting the Indian pacers to switch tactics by bowling a wider line, especially to Brook.

India’s only opportunity in the post-lunch session came when Rishabh Pant dropped a tough chance off Smith, diving to his right off Nitish Reddy.

India skipper Shubhman Gill had dropped Brook, though it was a tough chance off Jadeja’s bowling.

Brook got to his hundred shortly after lunch with a guided shot off Krishna towards third man. In the penultimate over before tea, Brook got couple of fours via a reverse sweep and one from back of the bat off an attempted pull.