Chennai: Pacer Jasprit Bumrah and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin got one apiece to peg England back to 67 for 2 at lunch on the opening day of the first Test against India, here Friday.
Skipper Joe Root, playing his 100th Test, was batting on 4 while opener Dominic Sibley was undefeated on 26 (96 balls, 3 fours) going into the lunch break.
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 (7-1-17-1), they kept Ashwin (10-0-31-1) and left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem (5-1-11-0) at bay, showing patience and also playing shots whenever offered the opportunity.
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.
Indian captain Virat Kohli had introduced Ashwin into the attack in the eighth over.
The openers Sibley and Burns negotiated the first hour without much trouble.
Ishant (5-1-8-0) and Bumrah bowled steadily but could not cause any damage. Sibley and Burns played sensibly and showed patience to deny India any early inroads.
Bumrah, playing his first test at home, saw Pant grass Burns off the first delivery which the batsman tried to glance.
England captain Root won the toss and elected to bat. Star all-rounder Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Rory Burns returned to the side after missing the series in Sri Lanka.
For India, Virat Kohli returned after the paternity break while Ishant Sharma returned to the squad while Shahbaz Nadeem got to play his second Test.
Brief Scores:
England: 67 for 2 in 27 overs (Rory Burns 33, Dominic Sibley 26 batting; Ravichandran Ashwin 1/31, Jasprit Bumrah 1/17).
PTI
