Birmingham, July 3 (Agency) Jonny Bairstow’s scintillating hundred was not enough to deny India taking a sizeable lead of 257 runs by stump day 3 of the delayed fifth Test against England at Edgbaston here on Sunday. The hosts were bowled out for 284. At Tea, India were in a commanding position at 37/1 in their second innings, leading England by 169 runs. Cheteshwar Pujara and Hanuma Vihari were batting on 17 and 10 respectively. James Anderson got rid of Shubnam Gill for 4 in the first over of the innings. Bairstow recorded the session in his name as he notched up a strokeful 106 runs off 140 balls which consisted of 14 boundaries and two sixes. In the process, he became the leading run-getter in Tests for the calendar year and only batsman after Michael Clarke to have scored five tons in a year batting at No.5 or below. Resuming on overnight score of 91, Bairstow reached his century off 119 balls by powering Shardul Thakur for a boundary.
Astonishingly, he had scored just 16 runs off his first 64 balls. Despite the histrionics of Bairstow, the Indian pacers displayed once again their skills of complimenting each other in sharing wickets. Mohammed Siraj finished with 4/64 in 11.3 overs, while Captain Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami grabbed three and two wickets respectively. Shami cashed in on Bumrah’s efforts of beating Bairstow’s defence and dismissed him, who edged an intended drive to Virat Kohli at first slip in the very first ball of the spell, breaking a 92 runs seventh wicket stand between him and Sam Billings. Siraj bounced Stuart Broad for 1, before Billings played on to his stumps for 36. Matthew Potts threw his bat around for 17 before he edged Siraj with the third umpire unable to overrule the soft-signal on a contentious low catch by Shreyas Iyer. Earlier, the hosts added 116 runs to their overnight 84/5 for the loss of Ben Stokes (25) in an intense morning session.
Bairstow was swishing the bat without connecting at the start as he looked to break his shackles. Looking at Bairstow’s struggle, Captain Ben Stokes opted to step out and even nailed one of the balls off Shami, sending a strong message that England would not be cowered by India’s diktat. The approach paid off and both the overnight batsmen negotiated a testing half-an-hour’s play and managed to add 39 runs. Simultaneously, Bairstow was engaged in war of words with former India Captain Virat Kohli, after which he launched an attack on the Indian bowling. He lifted Bumrah and Shami’s full balls over the in-field, and flicked and chipped Siraj over mid-wicket and cover for consecutive boundaries in his first over of the day.
This assault was in contrast to his first 16 runs which he made in 64 balls, but reached 50 off the next 14 balls which consisted of 6 boundaries. Stokes was lucky to have been dropped by Shardul Thakur and Bumrah, but did not remain long at the crease. In a coverup for their missed chances, Bumrah brought about a splendid goalkeeping type diving catch at mid-off to send Stokes packing for 25 after a 66 runs stand for the sixth wicket. Stokes’ wicket did not bother Bairstow who continued with his attacking game. He was merciless against Thakur and Siraj. He punished Thakur by swivel-pulling and striking him through covers and then pulling Siraj for a six. Thakur was then clobbered over mid-wicket for another six as Bairstow raced towards his century. Brief scores: India 416 & 37/1 (Cheteshwar Pujara 50*; James Anderson 1-15) lead England 284 (Jonny Bairstow 106, Sam Billings 36; Mohammed Siraj 4-66, Jasprit Bumrah 3-68) by 257 runs.