Harry Brook threw his head back in despair after picking out long leg but his innings of 99 set up a tantalising one-innings match at his home ground. India had three first-innings centurions to  England’s one and Jasprit Bumrah completed a dazzling five-for to prove he is a class above any other bowler on show, yet only six runs separated the two teams after eight sessions.

Reprieved before he had scored a run on the second evening thanks to Bumrah overstepping, Brook made India pay for their profligacy. He was dropped twice – on 46, then 80 – but played several outrageous shots as he approached his first Headingley Test hundred, only to fall into a short-ball trap by pulling Prasidh Krishna down Shardul Thakur’s throat.

But England’s lower order ensured that they raced towards parity. Where India had lost their last five wickets for 24, England added 189 in 35.5 overs, with Chris Woakes pulling back-to-back sixes to reach 2,000 Test runs. Bumrah cleaned up his stumps, then Josh Tongue’s, to clinch his third five-wicket haul in England and a slender, single-figure lead.

It meant the first Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy would be determined by both teams’ second innings, and KL Rahul batted with characteristic class to lay the early foundations for a steep England target. But Ben Stokes’ late wicket of Sai Sudharsan, three overs before rain brought an early close, left the match in the balance heading into the final two days.

After his near-miss on Saturday night, Brook made his intentions for Sunday morning clear by cutting Prasidh for four then swiping him over midwicket for six in the very first over, then charging down to slap Bumrah’s first ball through cover. It was audacious batting, but underpinned by Brook’s trust in the reliable bounce of his home pitch.

Ollie Pope could only add six runs to his overnight 100 not out, fiddling Prasidh behind off a short, wide ball, but Jamie Smith joined Brook and matched his attacking tempo. India rotated their seamers from one end while Ravindra Jadeja kept things tight at the other, and it was Jadeja who had Brook put down first, Rishabh Pant failing to gather an outside edge.

Smith was given out in single-figures, but successfully reviewed an lbw decision after being hit on the shin by a full toss; Thakur thought he had dismissed him, but remained largely anonymous and leaked 38 runs in the six overs he bowled. After three days, Shubman Gill must rue the decision to leave Kuldeep Yadav carrying the drinks.

India resolved to test England’s patience with a bouncer barrage, and Smith could not resist the temptation. He crunched Prasidh over square leg for six with a vicious pull, but miscued a wider short ball two balls later and fell to a smart relay catch as Jadeja parried the chance up to Sai Sudharsan in the deep. It was an ill-timed brain fade: the new ball was due at the end of the over.

Brook resolved to use it to his advantage, blazing consecutive boundaries off a fired-up Mohammed Siraj, who let him know what he thought of his aggression. Bumrah covered his eyes in frustration when Yashasvi Jaiswal shelled Brook at gully, and Siraj soon backed off when Brook launched him over long-on for a towering straight six.

On 99, Brook lined up his opportunity to reach three-figures with a boundary; instead, he was left to drag himself off the field. That prompted Woakes to become the aggressor, taking only 36 balls to add 50 for the eighth wicket with Brydon Carse before Siraj and Bumrah (twice) left the stumps splayed.

Woakes held his back hip while receiving treatment during his 38, and his average speed with the new ball dipped below 80mph. But Carse cranked it up to 90mph running up the hill, and struck an early blow with a snorter to Jaiswal which angled in from around the wicket, bounced steeply and took the outside edge.

To the backdrop of a boisterous Western Terrace, much livelier than it had been through the first two days, Rahul was the calmest man at Headingley. He drove Carse for two fours in three balls: the first down the ground and the second pinged through cover, and seized on Shoaib Bashir’s early drag-down.

Sai Sudharsan walked out on a pair and guided his first ball to the boundary, playing late and building a substantial partnership with Rahul for the second wicket. But he fell to Stokes for the second time in the match, chipping an inswinger to short midwicket and failing to punish Ben Duckett for a drop in the gully.

Light but persistent rain brought the day to an early, anticlimactic ending, but with the sense that another Headingley classic is brewing.

Brief scores:
India 471 in 113 overs and 90 for 2 in 23.5 overs  (KL Rahul 47*, Sai Sudarsan 30; Ben Stokes 1-18) lead England 465 in 100.4 overs  (Ollie Pope 106, Harry Brook 99, Ben Duckett 62, Joe Root 28, Jamie Smith 40, Chris Woakes 38, Brydon Carse 22; Jasprit Bumrah 5-83, Prasidh Krishna 3-128, Mohammed Siraj 2-122) by 96 runs

[Cricinfo]