Joe Root and Dom Sibley put England in the driving seat on day one against India with mammoth partnership

England have seized control of the first Test Match against India thanks to a stand of 200 for the third wicket between Joe Root 128* and Dominic Sibley 87 to take full advantage of winning the toss on a flat pitch in Chennai.

The tourists began strongly with the returning Rory Burns (33), adding 63 with Sibley for the first wicket, a total England’s opening partnership failed to reach in their recent tour of Sri Lanka.

However, a moment of misjudgement from the Surrey man saw him dismissed by Ashwin before Dan Lawrence went for a duck shortly after to leave Root’s men 63-2 in his 100th Test as a player.

Greatness recognised ?

Scorecard: https://t.co/gEBlUSOuYe#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/50Su6sVALd

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) February 5, 2021

After that slight wobble, Root and Sibley complimented each other brilliantly with Root unsurprisingly the aggressor of the two as the home bowlers toiled in the hot conditions.

The pair batted together all the way through to the final over of the day before Sibley was pinned LBW by the returning Jasprit Bumrah to leave England 263-3 at the end of the opening day, well placed to go and make it a big first innings advantage.

Root and the coaching staff made four changes from the second Test against Sri Lanka with Jonny Bairstow, Mark Wood, Sam Curran and Crawley making way for Ben Stokes, Burns, Ollie Pope and Jofra Archer, who all returned after being absent for that tour for various reasons.

Unsurprisingly, Bumrah was the pick of the hosts’ bowlers having claimed match figures of 2-40 from his 18.3 overs and will be vital once again tomorrow if his side are to get back into this one.

Root’s recent form has seen him rise to fourth in the all time England batting standings, and is closing in on Alec Stewart in third, with only Graham Gooch and Sir Alistair Cook ahead of him.

The England captain will be joined by vice captain Stokes first thing tomorrow morning as the tourists look to take advantage of their fine start to the series in Chennai.

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