India v England: the best pictures from the opening day of the first Test

Security was highly visible in Chennai but centurion Andrew Strauss wasn't ruffled. "Maybe all the stuff that's been going in regards to security arrangements has taken our minds off the pressure of playing in Test cricket. I felt pretty comfortable from ball one," he said. Photograph: Julian Herbert/Getty Images

This is what we brrrr our way out of bed in the small hours for: Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss boring the pants off everyone. Forget the strap-ons and lurid air-humping of Twenty20 and one-day cricket; give me the gentle, riverside hand-in-hand stroll of Test cricket anyday. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/PA

Strauss oohs like a man who's just seen a particularly tasty slab of rib-eye steak on the reduced counter at Sainsbury's. Then, two balls later, he tucks a single off his pads to reach a very good fifty from 104 balls. Photograph: Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/Getty Images

An interesting move from Dhoni, who whistles up Harbhajan Singh for a fiddle, a scant 30 minutes into the game. He slots in a slip and a short leg. There's not a great deal of spin for him, predictably enough, and Strauss leans out, bat in front of pad, to turn two runs away to long leg. Photograph: Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/Getty Images

Two-Test series. Is there a single cricket fan out there who thinks a two-Test series is a good idea? Apart from England fans who'll enjoy the fact that their side's likely steam-rollering is going to end all the sooner. Photograph: Punit Paranjpe/Reuters

Oh dear. One of the ugliest innings I can ever recall seeing Pietersen play in an England shirt ends in pathetic fashion, swatting a stupid pull shot up into the air for an easy catch just off the pitch. He must have been relieved to get away from Yuvraj, but then he had warning about Zaheer's bouncer - we saw it plenty of times this morning. Didn't stop him being suckered by it though. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/PA

Flintoff is in and the collapse is on and suddenly the world is righting itself. Photograph: Anthony Devlin/PA