India Vs England, 2nd Test Day 3 Report: Mohammed Siraj’s Six Wicket Haul Helps IND Stay Ahead

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.

Dominant England's Opening Session

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.

Jamie Smith Record-breaking Century

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.

In the morning, Siraj struck twice in as many balls but Smith swung the momentum back in England’s favour with a counter attacking hundred as the hosts raced to 249 for five at lunch.

Resuming the day at 77 for three, England lost half their side in the second over of the morning session when Siraj had Joe Root (22) and Ben Stokes (0) caught behind.

Root’s was a soft dismissal as he got faint tickle down the leg side, while Stokes was surprised to get a sharply rising ball first up.

England were reduced to 84 for five but Smith and Brook continued to attack and put pressure back on the opposition.

Krishna was brought in to implement the short ball plan with six fielders on the leg side but that failed as Smith got the better of him in the 12th over of the morning that yielded 23 runs.

It is not often that Brook is outscored but it happened on Friday as Smith relentlessly attacked the Indian bowlers.

Smith also did not allow spinners Jadeja and Sundar get into any sort of rhythm. Sundar was driven for back-to-back fours by Smith in his first two balls before the wicket-keeper batter collected a six and a four from Jadeja in the following over.

Smith got to his second Test hundred off 80 balls, the third fastest by Englishman, with consecutive fours off Jadeja in the last over before lunch.