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Patna : England were 263/3 in 89.3 overs in their first innings at at stumps on Day 1 in the 1st test against India at M A Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, Tamilnadu, on February 5, 2021, as captain Joe Root, 30, playing his 100th test match, scored an unbeaten 128 in 197 balls with 14 fours, his 20th test ton, and opener Dominic Sibley scored 87 in 286 balls with 12 fours. Sibley fell lbw to fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah at the stroke of stumps.
Opting to bat after winning the toss, England lost their first two wickets that of opener Rory Burns (33) and Daniel Lawrenve (0) with 63 runs on board. But, Root and opener Sibley steadied the ship adding 200 runs for the third wicket. Root showed tremendous footwork in a masterclass batting against spinners. India had included three spinners: Ravichandran Ashwin, Shahbaz Nadeem, and Washington Sundar, in the team. But, they proved ineffective with only Ashwin getting one wicket. Bumrah took 2/40 in 18.3 overs.
It was Root’s third century in last three tests. He had scored big hundreds in both the test against Sri Lanka in January 2021.