England batter Harry Brook has made it clear that the hosts would look to chase down whatever target India give them in the second Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham. Admitting that England are behind in the contest at present, he asserted that the game is not over yet, pointing out to India's shocking batting collapses in both innings of the first Test in Leeds.
Brook (158) played a brilliant knock on Day 3 in Birmingham on Friday, July 4, adding 303 runs for the sixth wicket with keeper-batter Jamie Smith (184*). England resumed Day 3 at 77-3 and soon slipped to 84-5. Brook and Smith led a brilliant fightback, but the hosts lost 5-20 to be bowled out for 407. At stumps on Day 3, India were 64-1, with an overall lead of 244 runs.
Speaking at a press conference following the end of the third day's play, Brook admitted that England have their backs to the wall in the contest. He, however, added that the hosts still believe that they can make a strong comeback to go on and win the Test match. He said (via ESPNcricinfo):
"I think everybody in the world knows that we're going to try and chase whatever they set us. We've obviously got a big task at hand tomorrow morning and we'll try and get a couple of wickets early on and try and put them under pressure.
"Obviously, they are in front of the minute, but if we get a couple of early wickets in the morning… you never know how this game can go. As we've seen last week, we got 7 for 30 runs and then 6 for 40 runs at Headingley and then they've done the same to us today. Everything happened so quickly and you never know how the game can go," the 26-year-old added.
Brook struck 17 fours and a six in his excellent knock before being cleaned up by a beauty from Akash Deep that nipped back sharply.
"I'd never been out in the 90s before" - Harry Brook on missing out on a ton in Leeds
Before a terrific hundred in Birmingham, Brook had registered scores of 99 & 0 in the first Test in Leeds. He had never been dismissed in the 90s before either in domestic or international cricket. The right-handed batter admitted that he wanted to make amends with a big knock in the second Test.
"I was definitely hungry to get a hundred today. I'd never been out in the 90s before. It was disappointing, but I should have got a pair last week, so I can't complain too much," he said.
The England batter also hailed Smith for his exceptional knock and said that he was happy to watch his partner take the attack to the Indian bowlers.
"He tried to change the momentum back in our favor and it worked for a long period of time. It was awesome. It was so good to watch from the other end. I felt like he could hit four or six every ball. I was just trying to get him on strike," Brook explained.
After England were bowled out for 407, India faced 13 overs in their second innings before stumps. The visitors lost Yashasvi Jaiswal (28) lbw to Josh Tongue. At close of play, KL Rahul was batting on 28 and Karun Nair on seven.
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