Fifth Test, day one: Joe Root falls just short of Vaughan record

Root (88) fell 10 runs short of his fellow Yorkshire batsman Michael Vaughan’s England record tally of 1,481 runs in a calendar year - but did take his uncanny sequence of at least a half-century in each Test he has played against India to 11 since he made 73 on debut in Nagpur in 2012.

The riches of his and Moeen Ali’s stand of 146 seemed a world away after England won the toss for the fourth time in five matches but then lost both openers in the first hour to falter to 21-2 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

Those early indications of yet another struggle, in keeping with England’s tour-long strife on the way to series defeat and a 3-0 deficit with just this final match remaining, were gradually dispelled.

The third-wicket partnership was a slow-burner, in stifling conditions, but a precious and increasingly proactive one after Alastair Cook and Keaton Jennings’s early departures.

Moeen (63) had only seven from 44 balls at lunch. But on the way to 50 from 111, he brought up the half-century stand with a swept four off Ravi Ashwin - a deed Root would repeat within the hour to take their alliance into three figures.

By the time the vice-captain fell, caught-behind from an under-edge behind on a sweep at Ravindra Jadeja detected only by technology on DRS after an initial not-out verdict, he had hit 10 fours from 144 balls.

He cut a frustrated figure too, though, mouthing his irritation after the decision was overturned and therefore meant he had turned only three of his last 17 Test fifties into hundreds.