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Chennai: Captain Joe Root scored a century in his milestone 100th match as England ended Day 1 of the opening Test against India on 263 for 3 here on Friday.
Root was batting on 128 at stumps after stitching 200 runs together with opener Dominic Sibley (87) for the third wicket. The day's play ended as soon as Sibley was dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah.
The highlight of the England first innings was the 200-run partnership between Root and Sibley for the third wicket which put England in a strong position in the match after they batted first on a slow Chepauk pitch.
The duo came together just before the end of the morning session when England were at 63 for 2 and made the Indian bowlers toil for the remaining two sessions.
Coming at number four, the 30-year-old Root dominated the partnership as he raced ahead of Sibley with an array of strokes.
Root has hit 14 fours and a six from 197 balls while Sibley struck 12 boundaries off 286 deliveries in his innings.
For India, Bumrah took two wickets for 40 runs while Ravichandran Ashwin got one for 68 runs.
Sibley, Root Take England To 140 At 2 At Tea
Skipper Root joined hands with opener Dominic Sibley to lead England's recovery as they reached a comfortable 140 for two at tea on the opening day of the first Test against India, here on Friday.
Root, playing his 100th Test, was batting on 45 and Sibley on 53 when the break was taken at the M A Chidambaram stadium. They have put on 77 runs for the unbeaten third wicket so far, defying the Indian attack with ease.
While Sibley was all patience and waited for the bad deliveries to score runs, Root underlined his class with some superb shots as the two went about shoring up the innings.
Pacers Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah and the spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Shahbaz Nadeem and Washington Sundar tried every trick possible but could not break British batsmen's resolve.
Ishant, alomng with Bumrah, bowled exceptionally well in the second session but that was not enough
Bumrah and off-spinner Ashwin (1/52) picked up one wicket each just before lunch to leave England at 67 for two.
Openers Sibley and Rory Burns provided England a solid start with a 63-run partnership during which they did not appear to be in too much trouble.
After negotiating the pace duo of Ishant Sharma and Bumrah, they kept Ashwin and left-arm spinner Nadeem at bay, showing patience and also playing shots whenever they sniffed an opportunity.
Bumrah, playing his first Test at home, saw Pant grass Burns off the first delivery which the batsman tried to glance.
The openers appeared to be making a steady progress before Burns unnecessarily went for a reverse sweep off Ashwin and saw the ball lob to 'keeper Rishab Pant for an easy catch.
Newcomer Dan Lawrence was sent back by Bumrah with a beauty which tailed in sharply, catching the batsman plumb in-front.
India captain Virat Kohli introduced Ashwin into the attack in the eighth over in a bid to get an early breakthrough.
Sibley and Burns played sensibly and showed patience to deny India any early inroads.
Brief Scores:
England 1st innings: 263 for 3 in 89.3 overs (Dominic Sibley 87, Joe Root batting 128; Ravichandran Ashwin 1/68, Jasprit Bumrah 2/40).
