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Smith needed just 80 balls to complete his century, the joint-third fastest in England history<\/p>\n
NIGEL PARKER\/SHUTTERSTOCK<\/p>\n
It was a brilliant performance from a pair of young cricketers who will be central to England\u2019s fortunes in all formats in years to come, albeit on a bizarre topsy-turvy day. Things began badly when the old guard of Joe Root and Ben Stokes fell in the second over of the morning to consecutive balls, before Smith and Brook shared their mammoth partnership, rattling along at more than five an over, to the point where it looked like they might get within touching distance of India\u2019s first-innings score.<\/p>\n
Then India\u2019s opening bowlers, Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj, who shared all ten wickets between them, induced a dramatic collapse of five wickets for 20 runs in 43 balls, with the second new ball. It meant an England scorecard that included six ducks and two mighty hundreds, leading to a first-innings deficit of 180. It felt as inexplicable as some of the costumes in a Hollies Stand that became increasingly raucous throughout the day.<\/p>\n
India stretched their lead by a further 64 for the loss of Yashasvi Jaiswal before the close. Where does that leave the game? There are two days remaining; the pitch remains true, showing no signs of deterioration and, on that basis, who knows how long Shubman Gill will want to bat for on Saturday or how many he will feel confident enough of defending on the final day, after what happened at Headingley last week and on this ground two years ago? <\/p>\n
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Stokes was dismissed first ball, feathering a catch behind, as England lost two wickets in as many balls<\/p>\n
MICHAEL STEELE\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n
It is a measure of the psychological impact England\u2019s batting can have on the opposition that even though India should be able to control the game from here, they still face some tricky calculations. Gill needs to win to level the series but cannot afford to lose. He needs time on this pitch to take ten wickets, but will not want to offer England a sniff. Welcome to captaincy, Shubman.<\/p>\n
The context to the partnership between Brook and Smith, without which England would already be sunk, made what followed even more astonishing. Smith, after all, came in on a hat-trick after Root had tickled one down the leg side and Stokes had been surprised by Siraj\u2019s pace and bounce first ball, feathering a catch behind. At 84 for five, trailing by 503 runs, England were in a deep, deep hole of their own making, having put India in and then having batted recklessly on the second evening. <\/p>\n
Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager.<\/a><\/p>\n Enable cookiesAllow cookies once<\/p>\n But Smith did not worry about any of that. He climbed into his first ball, driving it sweetly down the ground, and proceeded to set about India\u2019s bowlers with relish, driving powerfully and pulling anything remotely short with venom. He took 23 runs from one over off Prasidh Krishna in the morning, who had been unwisely instructed to test out the middle of the pitch, during which Stokes could be seen applauding animatedly from the England dressing room, egging on his young \u2019keeper to inflict further damage.<\/p>\n In a morning session that delivered an astonishing 172 runs in just 27 overs, Smith dominated, bringing up his half-century in 43 balls and at one stage, as lunch approached, Gilbert Jessop\u2019s ancient record<\/a> for England\u2019s fastest hundred was in real danger. He didn\u2019t quite achieve that, but when he swept Ravindra Jadeja for his 14th boundary in the last over before lunch, he had breezed to a hundred in a session in only 80 balls, the joint-third-fastest for England.<\/p>\n
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