CHENNAI: It was the ninth ball on Day Three in Edgbaston. Mohammed Siraj ran in with all the hopes of giving India an early breakthrough, and bowled a full delivery that was drifting down the leg side. On any other day, Joe Root might have flicked it for a four or just completely missed. Friday was neither as he got a feather touch and Rishabh Pant completed the rest. England's best batter was back in the pavilion and Siraj had found his energy.
In the very next ball, he delivered a sharp bouncer that caught England captain Ben Stokes fending off in an awkward manner. India had taken two in two and England were half the side down — 84/5 in 21.4 overs, the scoreboard read. India, all of a sudden, found themselves on top with a chance to go for the kill and gain an insurmountable first innings lead.
Enter Jamie Smith, the 24-year-old keeper-batter, who is slowly but steadily moving up the ranks in the England batting line-up. Over the next 60-odd overs, Smith, along with Harry Brook, delayed the inevitable as the duo added 303 runs from 368 balls before the second new ball was taken and Akash Deep eventually dismissed Brook for 158 runs from 234 balls. The Bengal pacer followed it up with the wicket of Chris Woakes before Siraj took charge and ran through the tail, finishing with 6/70. England were all out for 407, trailing by 180 runs and Smith was left stranded 16 runs short of a double century.
It was a day India would have taken at the start of play, especially with Siraj rising to the occasion in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah. In many ways, being the leader of the pace attack seems to bring out the best in him as Siraj showed why he is a much-valued part of the Indian team. He was complimented well by Akash Deep who too took a four-fer while the rest of the bowling attack were made to look ordinary by Smith and Brook.
While Siraj's six-fer and the stark difference in his Test averages with and without Bumrah in the XI remains the story of the day for India, between the second over and the second new ball, Smith and Brook showed why they are rated highly in English cricket. Brook, who had already hit a 99 in Leeds, maintained his good touch to play a steady innings on a good batting wicket, but it was Smith who dictated the terms from the get go.
What is remarkable about the rise of Smith is that he is not the best keeper in his county team, Surrey, leave alone the country. That position, in both Surrey and England, belongs to Ben Foakes who keeps wickets while Smith plays as a batter in county cricket. And it was not until his 82-ball 126 for England Lions a couple years ago against Sri Lanka A in Galle. That put him on the radar for the senior team and soon he was doing the same things under Stokes.
Friday, too, was no different as Smith took on everyone who came in front of him. With a big total as cushion, India tried to go for the short-ball ploy but Smith kept taking risks and it was paying off. He welcomed Washington Sundar with consecutive boundaries and did not spare Ravindra Jadeja either. With India opting to go with three all-rounders, they were caught wanting as the ball got older and had to play the waiting game till the second new ball.
Smith was not going to wait around as he raced to his century even before Brook in the first session. A wicketless session followed as both looked set to get double hundreds, but India were playing the waiting game because they could afford to.
And when the moment came, Akash Deep and Siraj cashed in, taking just 9.3 overs with the second new ball to dismiss England. The lead of 180 is significant but with two more days to go, it's still an open contest. And one could say that without any doubt only because Smith and Brook kept England in the game for as long as they did. And they did it when it mattered the most.
