Birmingham, July 3: Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj struck as India left England at 77/3 in 20 overs at stumps on day two of Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Test at Edgbaston on Thursday. With the deficit standing a 510 runs and India kept on top thanks to Shubman Gill’s majestic 269, England have a big, big task ahead of them to make a comeback.

Gill’s magnificent knock, his career-best score in the format, the highest score made by an Indian captain in Tests and by an Indian batter in Tests in England, took the visitors’ to 587 in 151 overs. He also received excellent support from spin-bowling all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja (89) and Washington Sundar (42) for stitching stands of 203 and 144 for sixth and seventh wickets respectively.

In reply, Akash, getting a game in place of rested Jasprit Bumrah, gave India further advantage by picking 2-36 while Siraj returned with 1-21. Though Harry Brook and Joe Root are unbeaten on 30 and 18 respectively, England have a huge task at their hand on day three.

England’s innings began with Zak Crawley crunching Akash for two fours, before the pacer staged a mini comeback. He found the perfect line to draw the outside edge of Ben Duckett, and Gill - who just came back onto the field – flied to his left to take a spectacular catch, as the opener fell for duck.

On the very next ball, Ollie Pope tried to flick a fuller ball from Akash, but the outside edge was caught by KL Rahul on the second attempt in slips, as England's two centurions from the Leeds Test went back without scoring. England continued to sink when Siraj got a hint of movement and drew the outside edge of Zak Crawley, who pushed to Karun Nair at first slip.

With Root and Brook hanging in, the duo managed to bring some stability to England’s innings. Brook was proficient on his drive, loft and flick fetching him boundaries, before flicking and carving Prasidh Krishna for two more fours to be unbeaten alongside Root, as stumps arrived on a day which truly belonged to India and Gill.

Previously, the final session began sedately, before Gill tried to hook a short ball from Tongue, but picked out square leg, as the Indian skipper Gill received a standing ovation from the Edgbaston crowd. Bashir rounded off India’s innings when Akash Deep holed out to long-on, before having Mohammed Siraj stumped.

Brief Scores: India 587 in 151 overs (Shubman Gill 269, Ravindra Jadeja 89; Shoaib Bashir 3-167, Chris Woakes 2-81) lead England 77/3 in 20 overs (Harry Brook 30 not out, Zak Crawley 19; Akash Deep 2-36, Mohammed Siraj 1-21) by 510 runs

--IANS

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