India dismissed England's overnight centurion Ollie Pope early on the third day of their opening test at Headingley on Sunday but Harry Brook helped the hosts to reach 327-5 in their first innings and they trailed by 144 runs at lunch.
Resuming on 209-3 in reply to India's 471 all out, England were dealt a blow when Pope perished for 106 after adding only six runs to his score on Saturday, before Brook got his eye in and steadied the ship with some crisp hitting.
The right-hander, dropped on zero a day earlier and again on Sunday, made India pay by bringing up his 12th test half-century to remain unbeaten on 57 at the break with Jamie Smith enduring a nervy moment to make 29 not out in his team's robust reply.
Brook got off the mark with a spectacular boundary before a lofted six over deep mid-wicket in the opening over from Prasidh Krishna, who responded splendidly by having Pope caught behind with a short and wide delivery early in his next over.
A blustery day, which began with a moment of appreciation for former England speedster David "Syd" Lawrence who has died aged 61, threatened to become frustrating for India when Ben Stokes hit Mohammed Siraj down the ground to bring up England's 250.
India were less than pleased with the shape of the old ball, highlighted by a moment when Rishabh Pant petulantly threw it to the ground during a chat with umpire Paul Reiffel after Brook had audaciously charged Siraj and guided one over the slip cordon.
The tourists persevered and skipper Stokes was livid with himself when he fell for 20, drawn into an edge by Siraj, while Smith took a smart review and survived after initially being given out lbw off Shardul Thakur.
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