Starting the day with England at 72/3, India knew early wickets would be key to pushing for a series-levelling win, and Akash Deep delivered. He continued his dream debut with the red ball by removing Ollie Pope and Harry Brook in quick succession. Pope fell to extra bounce that caught his elbow before deflecting onto the stumps, a dismissal that underlined Akash’s ability to extract life from even a flattening pitch.
Brook, England’s last major hope alongside Ben Stokes, didn’t last long either. Akash got one to jag back in sharply and keep low, pinning Brook in front of middle stump. The batter reviewed in hope, but ball tracking showed ‘umpire’s call’, clipping the top of middle, and Brook had to go.
That double blow reduced England to 123/5, bringing Ben Stokes and Jamie Smith together. The pair, however, showed grit and application. Smith, who scored a superb unbeaten 184 in the first innings, kept rotating strike and punished any loose deliveries. Stokes, meanwhile, looked to counter-attack, hitting Siraj for four boundaries to release some pressure.
But India tightened the screws. Ravindra Jadeja bowled with accuracy, getting sharp turn and using the footmarks to trouble the left-handed Stokes. Pant’s constant chirping from behind the stumps added to the tension, while Jadeja rushed through his overs to squeeze in every extra ball possible before lunch.
The crucial moment came when Jadeja hurried through the 40th over in just under 100 seconds, creating time for Washington Sundar to bowl one more over before the break. That gamble paid off spectacularly. Sundar got one to drift and dip, beating Stokes’s forward defence and rapping him plumb on the pad. The England captain reviewed, but the ball was crashing into middle and leg, ending his fighting knock of 33.
At lunch, with only Jamie Smith and the tail to follow, India need four more wickets with 55.3 overs left and a golden chance to claim their first-ever Test win at Edgbaston and level the series in style.
