In the exhaust stroke, the piston again moves upwards; pushing the exhaust gas out

through the open exhaust valve. The exhaust valve opens before the piston
reaches bottom dead center in its power stroke. As the exhaust valve opens just
before bottom dead center it causes some of the pressurized exhaust gases to
escape even before the piston starts its upwards stroke.

It releases the excess pressure and helps to reduce pumping losses for the
piston when it moves up. The exhaust valve closes after a few degrees of piston
reaching the top dead center, when the piston starts to move down the cylinder in
the suction stroke. At this point, both the inlet & exhaust valves remain open for a
very short period of time; causing an ‘overlap’. This ‘overlap’ helps in better
‘scavenging’ or expelling the remaining exhaust gases from the engine cylinder.