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Siraj steals Smith’s thunder to give India the advantage
India leads by 244 runs at close of Day 3 in the Edgbaston Test, after England's collapse from 84/5 to 407 all out, with Brook scoring 158.
New Delhi: England started Day 3 of the Edgbaston Test on 77/3 after 20 overs. Exactly ten balls later they were 84/5 and India had got the start they wanted — Joe Root, his side’s most accomplished batter, and skipper Ben Stokes were back in the dressing room after Mohammed Siraj struck with two consecutive deliveries.
But from that moment till the second new ball helped Akash Deep dismiss Harry Brook (158), India were sent on a leather hunt by England. The 303-run stand between Brook and Jamie Smith took just 368 balls and eventually helped the hosts reach 407, giving the visitors a big lead of 180 runs.
In their second innings, India reached 64/1 at close, ahead by 244 runs. KL Rahul (28) and Karun Nair (7) were at the crease.
Make no mistake, England are still well behind the game but the start and the carnage that followed after made one miss Jasprit Bumrah even more. Surely, the talismanic pacer would have conjured up something magical to compound Stokes’ misery. At 84/5, India’s first innings total of 587 was a long, long away. Now, not so much.
The Siraj (6/70) and Akash Deep (4/88) masterclass with the second new ball undid some of the damage but a game that could have been an open and shut case is now very much alive.
If India do decide to set them a target then their tactics are hopefully better than what they were in the first session. England were on the match and another blow could have finished them off but Gill chose to be very conservative.
It was a field that chose defence over aggression — an edge going through the slips should just not happen when you are almost 500 runs ahead. But India had one slip, a gully and a huge gap. Brook survived and things kept getting progressively worse.
Then, pacer Prasidh Krishna came into the attack and he had clearly been asked to bowl lots of short-pitched deliveries because if he wasn’t, Gill should have quickly realized the tactic wasn’t working.
In his sixth over, Prasidh was carted for 23 runs by Smith and by the time the dust settled, the paceman had conceded 61 runs in his eight overs at an economy rate of 7.62.
The brief period of madness opened the floodgates. From that point until lunch was called, India were caught in a brain fog. The session saw England score 172 runs in 27 overs for the loss of those two early wickets wickets. The run-rate was an astounding 6.37.
There were some chances for India — Brook was dropped on 63 off Jadeja by Gill at first slip. When Smith was on 90, there was a caught and bowled chance for Washington. He couldn’t get his hands under it. The England wicketkeeper was in control for 90% of his shots and this was one of his few false ones.
He got to his 100 before lunch, off just 80 balls. It is the joint-third fastest hundred for England. Gilbert Jessop’s 76-ball ton in 1902 is still the quickest.
Lunch, however, gave India a chance to reset and they came out looking to restrict the flow of runs as much as possible. The 6-3 field gave the bowlers some protection and made the batters go against their grain.
Brook and Smith continued to bat very well but the boundaries were not coming as easily. It allowed India to breathe a little more freely. The session saw 106 runs being scored in 28 overs. It was still quick but way more manageable.
The runs kept coming at India looked rather flat. Perhaps the pitch played a role in that too. The ball wasn’t doing much and not until the second new ball was taken did things start to happen.
Suddenly, both Siraj and Deep started getting the ball to move around and it took a ball that seamed back sharply to sneak through the gap between bat and pad to end Brook’s long stay in the middle.
What Deep started, Siraj finished. From 387/5, England collapsed to 407 all out. In Bumrah’s absence, India would have been counting on the 31-year-old to come through and he did just that. It was an inspired spell of bowling and it might prove to be the difference come the fifth day.
Smith remained unbeaten on 184, it is the highest score by a No. 7 or lower for England in Tests. The best before that? 175 by KS Ranjitsinhji against Australia at Sydney in 1897.
However, Day 4 of the match will test the Indian team’s sense of adventure. Much of the discussion in the India dressing room will be around the target that they feel needs to be set. England have shown that they love nothing more than a chase but the visitors have a great chance of getting a series-levelling win.
