Skipper Joe 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. Live Updates | Stats | News
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.