ENG vs IND 2nd Test Day 3 highlights: Siraj-Akash put IND back on top

Siraj and Akash shared all 10 English wickets between them in the first innings of the second Test

Despite a brilliant 184 not out from Jamie Smith and 158 from Harry Brook, England still found themselves on the back foot by the end of Day Three of the second Test at Edgbaston. Siraj, with six wickets, and Akash Deep, with four, helped India take a huge 180-run lead in the first innings before the batters posted 64 for 1 on the board in the second innings by stumps. The visitors walked away with a big 244-run lead in the second innings with nine wickets and two full days of play remaining.

 

The third session started with England looking very comfortable, as Harry Brook completed his 150 and took his partnership with Smith past 300, before Akash Deep finally disturbed his bails to give India the much-needed breakthrough. He then removed Chris Woakes (5) to expose the English lower order.

 

Meanwhile, Jamie Smith continued his marathon innings and broke the record for the highest Test score by an English wicketkeeper-batter. Soon after, Siraj got Brydon Carse (0) trapped in front of the wicket as India finally found their footing in the match once again. Siraj struck again twice in the same over to remove Josh Tongue and Shoaib Bashir—both for ducks—as England were finally bundled out for 407, with India walking away with a 180-run lead in the first innings.

 

India’s start to the second innings was brilliant, as they added 51 runs for the first wicket before Josh Tongue trapped Yashasvi Jaiswal (28) to give England their first breakthrough. Despite that, India managed to end the day on a high, and with KL Rahul and Karun Nair still at the crease, fans can expect an action-packed Day Four on Saturday.

 

In the second session, England continued their momentum from the first and kept scoring at a brisk pace, maintaining their run rate above five. Brook went on to score his ninth Test century—and his first against India—to mount more misery on the visitors. Meanwhile, Jamie Smith, after being dropped on 121 by Nitish Reddy in the 54th over, converted his ton into 150.

 

Indian bowlers, in the meantime, looked completely clueless—bowling off-length deliveries and failing to maintain their lines. They did attempt some bodyline tactics, but the English pair managed to block those while attacking deliveries that offered room. The spin duo of Jadeja and Sundar were also unimpressive, as England dispatched them for boundaries at will.

 

England slowed down slightly in the final 30 minutes of the session but still ended up adding 106 runs in the half without losing a wicket.

 

Earlier, India started Day Three on a high, as Siraj—in the second over of the day—removed Joe Root (22) and English skipper Ben Stokes (0) on back-to-back deliveries, increasing England’s misery by reducing them to 84 for 5. But just when it seemed like India had full control of the match, Jamie Smith and Harry Brook brought the fight to the Indian bowlers, scoring at a fiery pace to get the hosts back in the game. Both batters completed their fifties within the first hour of play, as the Indian bowlers looked off-colour once again.

 

Prasidh Krishna, who after the first match admitted he conceded more runs than he wanted to, was once again one of the culprits. In one of his overs, Jamie Smith, with the help of four boundaries and a six, collected 23 runs. The impact of England’s counter-attack can be understood from the fact that when they lost their fifth wicket, their run rate was below 4, but by the drinks break it had surged. Smith continued the assault post-drinks and went on to score the joint fourth-fastest Test century for England just before the end of the session. 

India scorcard 2nd innings after day 3:

 

India 2nd Inning
64-1 (13 ov) CRR:4.92
Batter	Dismissal	R	B	4s	6s	SR
Yashasvi Jaiswal	lbw b JC Tongue	28	22	6	0	127.27
KL Rahul	Not out	28	38	6	0	73.68
Karun Nair	Not out	7	18	1	0	38.89
Extras	1 (b 0, Ib 1, w 0, nb 0, p 0)
Total	64 (1 wkts, 13 Ov)
Bowler	O	M	R	W	NB	ECO
Chris Woakes	5	0	28	0	0	5.6
Brydon Carse	5	1	23	0	0	4.6
Josh Tongue	3	1	12	1	0	4

 England scorecard 1st Innings: 

England 1st Inning
407-10 (89.3 ov) CRR:4.55
Batter	Dismissal	R	B	4s	6s	SR
Zak Crawley	c K Nair b M Siraj	19	30	3	0	63.33
Ben Duckett	c S Gill b A Deep	0	5	0	0	0
Ollie Pope	c KL Rahul b A Deep	0	1	0	0	0
Joe Root	c R Pant b M Siraj	22	46	2	0	47.83
Harry Brook	b A Deep	158	234	17	1	67.52
Ben Stokes (C)	c R Pant b M Siraj	0	1	0	0	0
Jamie Smith (WK)	Not out	184	207	21	4	88.89
Chris Woakes	c K Nair b A Deep	5	17	1	0	29.41
Brydon Carse	lbw b M Siraj	0	4	0	0	0
Josh Tongue	lbw b M Siraj	0	2	0	0	0
Shoaib Bashir	b M Siraj	0	2	0	0	0
Extras	19 (b 0, Ib 5, w 2, nb 12, p 0)
Total	407 (10 wkts, 89.3 Ov)
Bowler	O	M	R	W	NB	ECO
Akash Deep	20	2	88	4	6	4.4
Mohammed Siraj	19.3	3	70	6	4	3.59
Prasidh Krishna	13	1	72	0	0	5.54
Nitish Kumar Reddy	6	0	29	0	0	4.83
Ravindra Jadeja	17	2	70	0	2	4.12
Washington Sundar	14	0	73	0	0	5.21