England vice-captain Harry Brook said to India before the fourth day of the Edgbaston Test in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy: “We know we’re going to chase whatever they set.”
After India scored 587 in their first innings, they bowled England out for 407 with Mohammed Siraj taking six wickets and Akash Deep four. India finished the day at 64/1 with KL Rahul and Karun Nair at the crease, leading by 244.
I think we all know we’re going to chase whatever they set, Brook who scored 158 said at the post-day press conference. We have a big job tomorrow morning. We’ll try to get a couple of early wickets and put them under pressure.
“They are ahead right now but if we get a couple of early wickets in the morning you never know how this game can shift. Last week we saw them go from 7 for 30 to 6 for 40 at Headingley and then they did the same to us today. Things happened really fast and you can’t predict what will happen,” the 26-year-old added.
This series has been marked by collapses. India as Brook pointed out had their lower order collapse twice at Headingley and England lost their last five wickets for 20 runs at Edgbaston.
Brook also said his scores of 0 and 99 (where he had several lucky escapes including a first-ball duck against Jasprit Bumrah) at Headingley motivated him to play almost flawlessly in the second Test.
“I really wanted to get a hundred today. I’d never been out in the 90s before. It was disappointing but I probably should have got a pair last week so I can’t complain too much,” he said.
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On the other end Jamie Smith scored 184 (207) and together they helped England recover from 84/5.
“He tried to shift the momentum back in our favour and it worked for a while. It was great to watch from the other end. I thought he could hit four or six every ball. I was just trying to get him on strike,” Brook said.
