After winning the toss and opting to bat first, England had slumped to 102-3 before Moeen joined Root at the crease and, although the Yorkshireman perished soon before the close of play, the tourists had reached 311-4 by stumps. India were made to rue three dropped catches in the first half-an-hour of the day’s play, although they did dismiss Alastair Cook for 21 when he was trapped lbw by Ravindra Jadeja.
Teenage debutant Haseeb Hameed was also out lbw after making 31 runs, Ravichandran Ashwin being the bowler, before Ben Duckett, who had opened the batting in the recent two Tests against Bangladesh, was caught by Ajinkya Rahane at first slip off Ashwin for 13.
However, Root and Moeen then lifted England before the former was out for 126, an innings which included one six and 11 fours, caught and bowled by Umesh Yadav.
Moeen was unbeaten on 99 at the close while Ben Stokes was 19 not out and England will aim to post a big total on Thursday.
England are 7/5 to win the first Test while the draw is 13/8 and an India victory 11/4.
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Source: Bet365