Lunch England 63 for 0 (Strauss 31*, Cook 31*)
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England's openers have barely picked up a bat since September, but Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook defied the pre-match predictions of being severely undercooked by guiding England to 63 without loss at lunch on the opening day in Chennai. It was slow going, but the main priority for the visitors was to avoid early damage and a wicketless first session will have given the dressing room a huge boost.
In the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks 15 days ago this series appeared unlikely to take place but at 9.00am Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Kevin Pietersen appeared for a toss that signified something more important than a normal cricket match. However, as both captains said before the match, minds had begun to switch back into game-mode, and Pietersen was able to make the simple decision to bat on a flat Chennai pitch after he won the toss.
By the end of the first session it was easy to see why. Despite having only a little more than a week's notice for this match, the groundsman had put together a typical batting track. Harbhajan Singh was in the action by the ninth over and within the first hour Dhoni was down to one slip and a gully. During the series against Australia, catches at cover and midwicket produced wickets and Dhoni was clearly hoping for similar results.
However, Strauss and Cook showed impressive resilience. The opening overs against Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma were about judging where the off stump was and gauging any movement, of which there was little. Both bowlers maintained tight lines, but realised early on that it was going to be hard work.
The first boundary, a clip to fine leg by Strauss, came in the seventh over when Zaheer drifted too straight. Strauss and Cook got away with miscued pulls into the leg side as they struggled for their timing - a sign of their lack of practice - but were not overly troubled by pace and combated Harbhajan's early overs.
Cook produced the shot of the morning, a straight drive against Zaheer which comfortably made the boundary despite the outfield being slow due to the recent rain. If anyone knows how to perform without much preparation it's Cook: in 2006, he was thrown in for a Test debut in Nagpur, just two days after arriving from the Caribbean.
India managed to get the ball changed in the 18th over, and although the replacement did more the breakthrough didn't materialise. The most interesting bowling of the session came from Amit Mishra, the legspinner who claimed 5 for 71 on debut against Australia. His first over went for nine as Strauss swept him twice from a full length, but he teased the batsmen with his variations of flight.
Cook almost gave a catch to backward point when trying to cut but both openers survived their opening challenge against spin. There will be plenty more to come, but it was a better start than England could have imagined.
