Jamie Smith and Harry Brook ensure records tumble but England find themselves up against it in bid to save second Test against India

At 11.12am on the third morning of the second Test, Jamie Smith walked out to face Mohammed Siraj's hat-trick ball. England were 84 for five in reply to India's 587, and Ben Stokes had added a golden duck to his controversial decision, 48 hours earlier, to bowl first. They were heading for humiliation, their captain for the stocks.

Instead, Smith calmly punched his first delivery down the ground for four, and with Harry Brook embarked on one of England's most thrilling partnerships. By the time, shortly after 4.30pm, Akash Deep produced a beauty with the second new ball to bowl Brook for 158, the pair had put on 303 at almost five an over. It was England's highest stand for the sixth wicket at home, and another feather in the Bazball cap.

Though the last five fell in a hurry as the bustling Siraj picked up a well-earned six-for, Smith walked off with 184 not out to his name – the highest score by an England wicketkeeper, and the highest by an England No 7, breaking a record that had stood since 1897, when the Indian-born prince Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji made 175 at Sydney.

And there was something undeniably regal about the way Smith took the attack to India, clattering Prasidh Krishna for 23 in an over of short stuff, launching Ravindra Jadeja back over his head for six, and moving to an 80-ball hundred moments before lunch. Only Gilbert Jessop and Jonny Bairstow have got there more quickly for England. Perhaps most astonishingly of all, even an in-form Brook played second fiddle, cheerfully handing his partner the strike and enjoying the carnage from the other end.

With two days to go, it should be said, India remain in control, having extended their first-innings lead of 180 to 244 by stumps for the loss of Yashasvi Jaiswal, leg-before to Josh Tongue during 13 otherwise loose overs from England's seamers.

Yet when Joe Root, to his obvious disgust, tickled the morning's ninth ball down the leg side to Rishabh Pant, and Stokes was unable to get his bat and gloves out of the way of the 10th, England were contemplating an innings defeat – unthinkable after the heroics of Headingley.

The alliance between Brook and Smith, however, means India must now decide how many they are willing to let England chase on an Edgbaston surface that has refused to deviate from the straight and narrow. And, don't forget, they have been stung once in this series already. Some fascinating calculations lie ahead.

That England have at least forced India to think was entirely down to two cricketers who need little encouragement to adhere to one of the Bazball mantras and play their own game. While others in a dressing-room often accused – wrongly – of arrogance need their confidence inflating by Stokes and Brendon McCullum, Brook and especially Smith exude a quiet but natural self-belief. Without it, this game would already be all but over.

The partnership was split into two parts, counter-attack followed by consolidation. And the counter-attack was something else, a fearless takedown of India's bowlers in a morning session that yielded 172 runs at 6.37 an over. Smith gave Brook a 30-run headstart, but within 16 overs had overtaken him. Of the 100 stand, which needed only 89 balls, Smith made 64.

The pitch, as England had discovered on the second day, was utterly unresponsive to a ball anything other than brand new. And as the stand grew, it was India – still miles ahead – who began to look demoralised.

After lunch came its second phase, with India hiding the ball outside off stump, testing the batsmen's egos. Gratifyingly for those who have demanded smarter cricket from the Bazballers, Brook and Smith declined the bait. After his 99 at Headingley, Brook was on a mission, bringing up his ninth Test hundred – but only second in England – with a dab for four. Generally, though, he opted for pragmatism in a middle session that brought 106 off 28 overs, and scarcely any alarm.

Looming large, though, was the second new ball, and its arrival allowed India to reassert control. Deep ended a wait of more than 61 overs for a wicket by jagging one back through the defences of Brook, who had been struggling with cramp down the right-hand side of his body. Deep then induced a loose drive from Woakes.

Much has been made of the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, as if India had no other way of taking a wicket. But Siraj has risen to the challenge, and made short work of a surprisingly feeble English tail. Brydon Carse and Tongue were pinned lbw, and Shoaib Bashir cleaned up playing no shot the ball after being clattered on the helmet. All three fell for ducks, taking the tally for the innings to an England-record six. It was a ridiculously lopsided scorecard.

With the last five tumbling for 20, Smith never got enough of the strike to launch one final assault, leaving him with a Test average approaching 57 and the sense that he has the world at his feet.

England won't admit it, but there has been a strong case for a while to swap Smith and Stokes at Nos 6 and 7, and this only confirmed it. The first golden duck of Stokes's career leaves him with an average of 26 since the start of last year, while Smith is too good to be hidden away.

That, though, is a matter for another time. For the moment, England will need to stage one of their periodic miracles if they are to prevent India from winning their first Test at Edgbaston at the ninth attempt, and heading to Lord's with the series all square.