Bumrah five-for gives India the edge after Brook show

Hindustan Times

3 hours ago

Kolkata: A streaky but bold 99 from Harry Brook and some late order resilience helped England slash India's first innings lead to just six runs but a solid 66-run second wicket partnership between KL Rahul and Sai Sudharsan meant India ended the third day of the first Test on a strong 90/2 at Headingley. India's Jasprit Bumrah picked up his 14th five-wicket haul on Day 3 of the 1st Test match against England, at Headingley Cricket Ground in Leeds on Sunday. (BCCI)
Jasprit Bumrah braved some ordinary catching from the slip cordon to still finish with 5/83, equalling Kapil Dev's record of most five-wicket hauls (12) for an Indian in away Tests, playing almost half Tests (34, compared to Kapil's 66) to reach that mark. It was followed up by a solid batting response from India on a grey Yorkshire day. When rain intervened with almost an hour still left for the day, India were ahead by 96 runs.
Sudharsan was dropped by Ben Duckett off Josh Tongue's bowling at backward point when he was on 24 before he clipped an inswinging delivery from Ben Stokes to Zak Crawley at short midwicket.
The reprieve went with the general theme of the day as Brook used three lives to score at a stupendous rate to almost take England past India's first innings. After a rare Bumrah overstep saved him on Saturday, Brook was dropped twice on Sunday — Rishabh Pant grassing a catch off Ravindra Jadeja on 46, and on 80 Yashasvi Jaiswal spilling a shoulder-level edge at gully.
Brook wasn't one to waste those opportunities, and despite Mohammed Siraj trying to distract him by constantly giving him an earful, he remained steadfastly aggressive. He had survived a leg-before appeal off Jadeja's bowling but once the new ball was taken, Brook started to cut loose. Siraj had been hit for consecutive boundaries before Jaiswal dropped Brook at gully.
Siraj returned, only to be hoisted over his head for a towering six, followed by a square cut hit so hard that deep point had given up the chase the moment the ball flew off the bat. The only thing that worked the entire day for Indian fast bowlers was the short ball trap to the leg-side, as this time Brook couldn't outgun Shardul Thakur at deep backward square leg after pulling Prasidh Krishna.
That was Prasidh's third wicket of the innings as he picked up centurion Ollie Pope in the first session with a short and wide ball that deserved to be punished but instead only got edged to Pant behind the stumps. England however continued to chip away at India's total as Stokes and then Jamie Smith helped the hosts score 118 runs in the 28 overs of the first session. Stokes was scalped by Siraj but Smith then took on India's bowling, carting Prasidh for a four and a massive six over square-leg to keep England moving. That six however sparked a brainwave, albeit at the cost of a few more runs, as Prasidh parked a fielder and kept testing Smith. He finally fell, but not without some athleticism from Jadeja, who threw the ball to Sudharsan once he realised he was tipping over the boundary rope.
Once Brook too holed out at the same spot, India had got a foothold in England's innings. Or so they thought. Chris Woakes, who has a century to his name, against India at Lord's in 2018, added 55 runs for the eighth wicket with Brydon Carse in just 7.2 overs, leaving India knackered. Resisting the bowling is one thing, but Woakes was batting as well as a specialist, especially when he drove Bumrah for a four. And when Woakes hammered Prasidh for a boundary to help England past the 400 mark, India looked slightly ruffled.
Encouraged by Woakes's fight, Carse too managed a couple of boundaries before Woakes clobbered Prasidh for a six. The fifty-run stand was raised in only 36 balls as England raced to India's total. Once Siraj cleaned up Carse with a yorker though, Bumrah made short work of Woakes and Josh Tongue to complete his third five-wicket haul on English soil.
With two days still left, the Test was now heading for a one-innings shootout. So, it was important that India got off to a steady start. But Carse stepped up to the mark quickly, sending back the in-form Jaiswal in the fourth over. It was a sensational delivery as well, Carse hitting short of a good length and making the ball seam away late. Already on the move, Jaiswal couldn't help but push at it.
KL Rahul was batting like his life depended on it, showing immaculate class and technique in getting behind every delivery and playing with a straight bat. When Woakes shortened his length, Rahul made room and cut. When he bowled fuller, Rahul just caressed the ball through covers for four.
Top of the line though was the boundary he scored off Carse, showing the full face of the bat for an on drive that whistled past Sudharsan. And when he followed it up with an equally exquisite boundary through cover for another four, Rahul was looking unstoppable. For the better part of his brief innings, Sudharsan too was looking promising. Till Stokes successfully tried that leg-side trap again.