Birmingham: India bowled out England for 284 to take a healthy first-innings lead of 132 runs on the third day of the Birmingham Test. Jonny Bairstow took the attack back to the opposition camp with a gritty century before being sent back at 106 by Mohammad Shami. Bairstow went hard at a full delivery outside off edging it to Kohli at first slip who took a sharp catch with his fingers pointing up. England wrere all out for 284 with Siraj wrapping up the tail after getting the prized wicket of Joe Root early on, and ending with the bowling figures of 11.3 overs, 66 runs and 4 wickets.
Earlier Stokes (25) and England's man of the moment Bairstow added 66 for the sixth wicket before Indian captain Jasprit Bumrah produced a moment of inspiration on the field, taking a diving screamer off Thakur's bowling to dismiss his opposite number. The dismissal couldn't have come at a more opportune time for India after an attacking field seemed counter-productive as seven boundaries came between overs 33 and 36.
In fact, in a spell of 10 minutes, Stokes was dropped twice, first by Shardul, who couldn't latch on to a skier when the English skipper had shimmied down the track only to mistime it. The second chance was off the delivery before the dismissal when he flat-batted Shardul straight to Bumrah at mid-off and to everyone's horror, he missed a regulation catch.