India strike twice but Brook fifty narrows deficit

India Strike Twice but Brook Fifty Narrows Deficit

India struck twice in the first session on Day 3, despite England making steady progress thanks to Harry Brook's unbeaten half-century and his useful stands with Ben Stokes and Jamie Smith. England scored 118 runs in the 28 overs bowled in the session, trailing by 144 at Lunch.

Prasidh Krishna struck early, removing Ollie Pope with extra bounce. Brook took on Jasprit Bumrah, scoring fours off Prasidh and coming down the track to crack a boundary through cover. Stokes was watchful, tested on a couple of occasions by Bumrah.

Ravindra Jadeja targeted the rough outside the left-hander's offstump, while Stokes executed a lovely off drive for a four off Mohammed Siraj. Brook gave the charge to Siraj, guiding it over the slip cordon for a four. Stokes brought out the reverse sweep for a four off Jadeja and edged a Siraj delivery for a boundary.

The fifth wicket pair took the partnership to 50 when Brook danced down the track to Siraj, dispatching him for four with authority. Siraj struck back, getting Stokes to edge behind. Jadeja found help from the pitch, creating doubts in Brook's mind, but the batter was quick on his feet.

Shardul Thakur was given the ball late in the session and was put away for a four by Smith. In the same over, Smith used the DRS to reverse the onfield decision after being given out lbw. It was a good battle between Smith and Thakur, with the batter getting beaten once before dragging one off the inner-half of the bat for a four.

After England reached 300, Jadeja found the edge of Brook's bat, but Rishabh Pant failed to hold on. Smith was nearly caught at short-leg, and in the same over, Brook brought up his fifty. Bumrah returned to the attack before the Lunch break, nearly having Smith caught at mid on before being struck for a boundary.

Brief Scores:

India 471 lead England 327/5 (Ollie Pope 106, Ben Duckett 62, Harry Brook 57*; Jasprit Bumrah 3-67, Mohammed Siraj 1-73) by 144 runs.