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Team India got a perfect start in the first hour of the third day of the second Test at Edgbaston. Mohammed Siraj delivered double blows to England, picking up the scalps of Joe Root and Ben Stokes on consecutive deliveries. With England reeling at a score of 84/5, India were gearing up to bundle out the hosts as soon as possible to gain a colossal lead. However, in the brunch situation England’s young-guns Harry Brook and Jamie Smith held their nerves and hammered bowlers ruthlessly to help the English side get rid of pressure. Both batters built a 303-run stand together and helped England diminish the margin of lead taken by India eventually.
Noting their batting until the end of the second session, former England top-order batter Jonathan Trott blamed India for over utilisation of short deliveries against the batting pair. He said that both batters were under immense pressure but India’s plan to bowl short went against the visitors. “That partnership at the start was very much under pressure, but as soon as India switched to the short-ball tactic, it actually let the English batsmen off the hook. They're always going to take the short ball on. And once the runs started flowing — as anyone who's watched cricket knows — that's when the pressure starts to ease, and they can play their natural game,” remarked Trott on JioStar.
Brook-Smith stand enters record books
With the 303-run stand, both Harry Brook and Jamie Smith entered the record books as their partnership became the second most-successful sixth-wicket red-ball stand for England. Before them, the 399-run partnership between Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow against South Africa in Cape Town in 2016, stands as the most-successful sixth-wicket stand.
After Brook’s fall at his score of 158, England lost the next four wickets in quick succession and could add only 20 runs. Smith remained not out until the end of the innings as he walked back with his score of an unbeaten 184 off just 207. His knock was studded with 25 boundaries (21 fours and four sixes).
