2nd Test: Smith and Brook continue to keep bowlers at bay as England cross 350-mark

Birmingham, July 4 (IANS) Jamie Smith and Harry Brook continued making a truckload of runs to keep the rattled and listless Indian bowlers at bay and take England beyond the 350-mark on Day Three of the second Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series at Edgbaston here on Friday.

England reached 355/5 in 75 overs at tea and now trail India by 232 runs, with Smith and Brook unbeaten on 157 and 140 respectively. There was no stopping the pair in the second session as their unbroken thrilling sixth-wicket stand is now at 271 runs off 323 deliveries, even as Brook got his ninth Test hundred off 137 balls.

The second session began with Brook dabbing in the gap between gully and second slip off Prasidh Krishna to get his 13th boundary and his hundred. He celebrated it by looking up to the sky, as a gesture of remembering his grandmother, Pauline, who passed away in March 2024.

Smith, who completed his century before lunch, continued to be unstoppable by easily picking boundaries off Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy. A rather small period of no runs was broken by Smith, who drove Reddy straight down the ground and then pulled the Indian seamer for back-to-back boundaries.

Akash Deep’s reintroduction into the bowling attack didn’t bring much returns as Smith pulled him easily before steering a single off Mohammed Siraj to reach 150 for just the third time in first-class cricket.

Brook then reverse-swept and pulled Sundar for two boundaries, before walking off the field with Smith after amassing 106 runs in another session belonging to England. India’s only hope of separating Smith and Brook should come when the second new ball is taken five overs after the final session begins.

Brief scores:

India 587 lead England 355/5 in 75 overs (Jamie Smith 157 not out, Harry Brook 140 not out; Mohammed Siraj 3-57, Akash Deep 2-70) by 232 runs

--IANS

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