Strauss stars before India hit back

The 31-year-old left-hander overcame a disrupted preparation for the Test series by hitting his 13th Test century and helped forge a 118-run opening stand with Alastair Cook after England won the toss and batted first at the Chepauk Stadium.

But after making such a promising start, England failed to build on it with India showing the skills which helped beat Australia last month by claiming four late wickets to restrict the tourists to 229 for five by the close of the first day.

Strauss' innings spanned nearly six hours, included 15 boundaries, and was a triumph of determination over adversity after he was denied any meaningful match practice in the build-up by the tourists' decision to return home in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on Mumbai.

Both captains had stated prior to the match they would bat given the choice on a wicket expected to deteriorate, and Kevin Pietersen gave the tourists a huge lift by calling correctly at the toss.

Strauss and Cook gave England the perfect start, but just three overs after reaching his half-century, Cook's hopes of claiming a hundred ended when he attempted a slog-sweep against Harbhajan Singh and looped the ball high in the air for Zaheer Khan to collect the catch at mid-on.

Ian Bell kept Strauss company for 50 minutes until the tea interval, but became the first to perish during a stunning spell of 6-3-12-2 from Zaheer, walking across his stumps to fall lbw to the second ball after the interval.

Strauss survived several close shaves to complete his century seven overs after tea, guiding Zaheer to the third man boundary, before Pietersen gave a return catch in Zaheer's next over after he mis-timed an attempted pull high in the air.

Paul Collingwood had perhaps the most reason to feel aggrieved after being wrongly given out by umpire Billy Bowden for a catch at short leg off Harbhajan which clearly came off his pad, and only seven overs before the close, Strauss' innings was halted by emerging leg-spinner Amit Mishra when he offered a return catch.

Nightwatchman Jimmy Anderson survived 25 minutes until the close, while Andrew Flintoff was unbeaten on 18 from 64 deliveries.