Brook and Smith centuries lead England's fightback
They came together at 84 for 5 and put on a partnership of 271 and it's still going strong
ESPNcricinfo staff
04-Jul-2025 • 6 hrs ago
Harry Brook brought up his first Test century against India • AFP/Getty Images
Tea England 355 for 5 (Smith 157*, Brook 140*, Siraj 3-57, Akash Deep 2-70) trail India 587 (Gill 269, Jadeja 89, Jaiswal 87, Bashir 3-167, Woakes 2-81, Tongue 2-119) by 338 runs
Harry Brook picked off his ninth Test century in an afternoon session bossed by England, with India still smarting from Jamie Smith's astonishing 80-ball hundred on day three of this second Test at Edgbaston.
Both Smith (157) and Brook (140) went into tea unbeaten and dominant, the hosts 355 for 5, still trailing India by 232 but bossing matters ever since Mohammed Siraj removed Joe Root and Ben Stokes in consecutive deliveries. That left England 84 for 5 in the 22nd over, still trailing in their first innings by 503.
They have not looked back since Smith walked out and drove the hat-trick delivery for four down the ground. The keeper-batter went into lunch unbeaten on 102, his second Test hundred, with 17 boundaries. Brook, meanwhile, still had nine runs of his own to pick off for his century.
He'd get there four overs into the second session, guiding the ball through the cordon, between gully and second slip, off Prasidh Krishna for his 13th boundary to take him to three figures off 137 deliveries. It was Brook's first century against India, and only his second at home, having fallen for 99 in his first innings of the series at Headingley.
Smith had polished off his three-figures in one session, joint-third fastest on deliveries by an Engishman, and now has his second-highest first-class score. The keeper-batter was more or less a-run-a-ball up until he locked horns with Krishna in the over before the drinks break. With Shubman Gill chasing the match earlier than he needed to, Krishna was ordered to bounce Smith, who cashed in handsomely with four fours and a six smashed high over fine leg, taking the over for 23.
Having reached his hundred with back-to-back fours off Ravindra Jadeja in the final over of the morning, both he and Brook played the afternoon steady. Only 106 was added in the 28 overs between lunch and tea, with the collective slowdown evident in the fact it took 101 deliveries for this sixth wicket stand to move from 200 to 250.
Now at 271, it is the third-highest partnership for the sixth wicket and lower against India. The second new ball, which is just five overs away, feels like India's only hope of splitting Smith and Brook, though Nitish Kumar Reddy did find Smith's edge on 121, but Rishabh Pant could only get fingertips to the chance.