Root gives solid start to England with century in his 100th Test

Captain Joe Root scored a century in his milestone 100th match – the third Englishman ever to do so, joining Colin Cowdrey and Alec Stewart – as England ended Day 1 of the opening Test against India on 263 for 3 in Chennai 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 Jasprit Bumrah dismissed Sibley. 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 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 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.

At the end of the day’s play, asked about the pitch, Root said: “It played a lot better than it looked, quite an ugly one. Bounce, a little bit of reverse, really good Indian attack, so it’s important that we make the best of it tomorrow.”

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).