2nd Test: Jamie, Brook continue to punish India as England thrive in wicketless session (Day 3, Tea)

Birmingham [UK], July 4 (ANI): Jamie Smith and Harry Brook continued to torment India in the second session by thriving on 'Bazball' and ensuring England remained unscathed on the third day of the second Test at Edgbaston on Friday.
At the stroke of Tea, England hammered 355/5 on the board, trailing by 232 runs with Brook and Smith unbeaten on 140(209) and 157(1169), respectively.
Moments into the second session, Brook placed the ball past the diving Nitish Kumar Reddy at gully for a four to bring up his ninth Test century. India spinners Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja remained harmless against the hard-hitting English youngsters, who maintained a healthy run flow.
Smith continued to thrive with aggressive intent, while Brook didn't hesitate to put his defensive prowess on exhibition. Fortune stood by England's side with Brook surviving on a couple of occasions after his inside edge marginally missed the stumps. Pant dropped a tough chance, allowing Smith a costly lifeline.
Smith reeled off a back-to-back fours off Nitish in the 62nd over and then pulled Akash Deep in the next over for a boundary to take a step closer towards another milestone. Smith steered the ball towards the deep backwards point to sprint for a single and bring up 150, which was met with roaring applause from the crowd in the 64th over.
With no hint of reverse swing or spin, Jadeja managed to bowl a rare maiden over but failed to create an opening. Brook pulled out reverse sweeps from his loaded arsenal to decimate the Indian ball tweakers and keep the boundaries flowing to bring up 350 in the 74th over.
Overall, the scoring rate dropped a bit, but England enjoyed a wicketless session as Brook and Smith forged an unbeaten 271-run stand, the highest sixth wicket partnership for the hosts against India.
England started Day 3 at 77/3, with Joe Root (18*) and Harry Brook (30*) unbeaten on the crease. India struck early as Mohammed Siraj took back-to-back wickets in the 22nd over, removing Joe Root for 22 and England skipper Ben Stokes for a golden duck.
Jamie Smith joined Brook in the middle. England crossed the 100-run mark in the 25th over after Smith pushed the ball towards mid-on for a single off Akash Deep.
Centurion from the first test, Brook carried his form and completed his fifty in 73 balls. Both the batters counter-attacked the Indian bowlers as Smith smashed 23 runs off Prasidh Krishna's over.
In the same over, England crossed the 150-run mark. Krishna conceded the joint-most runs for India in a single over against England alongside Ravindra Jadeja; overall, the joint fourth-most for India.
Smith completed his fifty in the following over (33). England crossed the 200-run mark in the 39th over after Smith smashed a four off Ravindra Jajeda in the same over towards point.
Smith completed his hundred in the last over before Lunch after smashing back-to-back boundaries off Jajeda.
Earlier in the match, A historic double ton from Indian skipper Shubman Gill and early wickets taken by India's pacers put them in front at the end of day two of the second Test at Edgbaston, Birmingham on Thursday.
At the end of the day's play, England was 77/3, with Joe Root (18*) and Harry Brook (30*) unbeaten. England openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett came to the crease with a task to overcome a massive deficit of 587 runs set by India in the first innings.
Brief score: India: 587 (Shubman Gill 265, Ravindra Jadeja 89, Shoaib Bashir 3/167) against England: 355/5 ( Jamie Smith 157*, Harry Brook 140*; Mohammed Siraj 3/57). (ANI)