In-form England captain Joe Root looked on course for another big knock in his 100th test on Friday as he and opener Dom Sibley powered the tourists to 140-2 at tea on the opening day of the first test against India.
England nearly squandered a strong start, losing two quick wickets in the morning session, but Sibley and Root denied India any success after lunch with their unbroken 77-run stand at Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium.
Sibley was batting on 53, including seven boundaries, at the break and Root - after surviving a close run-out chance early in his knock and having smashed a double hundred and a century in his previous two tests in Sri Lanka - was on 45.
Earlier, Root won the toss and elected to bat, avoiding the potentially tricky task of batting in the fourth innings on a crumbling wicket.
Rory Burns and Sibley made a steady start with a 63-run opening stand, before Burns fell for 33 attempting a reckless reverse-sweep against Ravichandran Ashwin.
Dan Lawrence joined him soon after in the pavilion, trapped lbw by Jasprit Bumrah without scoring.
