Jaime Smith once again scripted England's lower order fightback after Jasprit Bumrah's triple strike as England reached 353/7 at lunch on day two of the third Test against India on Friday.
Bumrah removed Joe Root (104), Ben Stokes (44) and Chris Woakes (0) in a devastating seven-ball burst across two overs to reduce England from 251/4 to 271/7.
The English keeper-batter Smith, who scored 184 not out and 88 in the previous Test, counter-attacked with a fluent fifty and was unbeaten on 51 from 53 balls at the break, with Brydon Carse (33 batting) offering solid support in an unbroken eighth-wicket stand worth 82 runs that came off just 106 balls.
Earlier, Root notched his 37th Test century to move past Steve Smith’s tally and stand fifth on the all-time list, headed by Sachin Tendulkar (51).
Brief Scores:
England 1st Innings 353/7 in 105 overs (Joe Root 104, Jamie Smith 51 batting,; Jasprit Bumrah 4/63).
