ENG vs IND, 2nd Test: Siraj, Akash give India advantage after Smith-Brook’s pair lead England’s fightback

Notwithstanding a first-rate counter-attack from England that oozed Bazball right through, India ended day three of the second Test at Edgbaston 244 runs in the green.

The visitors restricted England to 407 to secure a 180-run lead, and then reached 64 for one at stumps, with K.L. Rahul (28 batting, 38b, 6×4) and Karun Nair (7 batting, 18b, 1×4) at the crease.

England’s innings was propped by a superlative 303-run partnership for the sixth wicket (368b) between Harry Brook (158, 234b, 17×4, 1×6) and Jamie Smith (184 n.o., 207b, 21×4, 4×6).

For India, Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep excelled, picking up six for 70 and four for 88 respectively. Though England can claim to have won two of Friday’s three sessions, the pace duo ensured India would be the happier unit going into day four.

On the ninth ball of the morning, Siraj lured Joe Root to nick one down the leg-side, and then dismissed captain Ben Stokes first ball with a nasty bouncer. Then, after tea, the pair dazzled with the second new ball, excising the last five English batters for just 20 runs. The collapse was triggered by a terrific nip-backer from Akash that breached Brook’s defence.

Between these two phases, England gave India an almighty scare. Ever since Brendon McCullum and Stokes have come together (May 2022), England has conceded more than 550 bowling first twice – once against New Zealand (June 2022) and once versus Pakistan (October 2024).

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The remarkable thing is that the Englishmen have won both matches, and for a few hours, they threatened a repeat. Brook’s ninth Test hundred and Smith’s second came at breakneck speed, with the latter getting to 100 in under two hours.

The pair accounted for the first 172 runs of their association in the opening session alone (27 overs). Then, in the sun-baked afternoon period, they added 106 at a rate of 3.78 per over, consolidating the gains.

There were three reasons for the tables to turn the way they did from 84 for five – England’s fearless approach, the blandness of India’s bowling attack – sans Akash and Siraj – and captain Shubman Gill’s slight poverty of imagination.

England’s innings was propped by a superlative 303-run partnership for the sixth wicket between Harry Brook and Jamie Smith.
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After Siraj’s opening burst, instead of keeping things tight, Gill asked Prasidh Krishna to bowl bouncers at Smith with a loaded leg-side field. It was a strategy that worked in Leeds, and the huge cushion of runs here meant Gill could afford that again. But the question was if it should have been his go-to ploy or a tactic of last resort.

Smith does have the propensity to sky the ball and not be dulled into withdrawing at the sight of catchers on the boundary. Unfortunately for India, he was near-perfect. Prasidh bled 50 runs from his first five overs of the morning as Smith pierced every available gap, from fine-leg to deep mid-wicket. A flurry of boundaries off Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja earned him a well-deserved century (80b).

When Smith walked in, Brook was on 31 (55b). When he reached three figures, Brook was still on 91 (126b). That didn’t mean that England’s white-ball leader would be denied his share of credit. The 26-year-old tackled Jadeja particularly well, hitting him for runs all over the ground before reaching his ton by cutting Prasidh past gully. It was just that Siraj and Akash had other ideas.