England opener Andrew Strauss struck his 13th Test century before left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan helped India fight back on the first day of the first Test on Thursday. Strauss hit 123 and shared in a 118-run opening stand with Alastair Cook (52) after the touring side elected to bat. The visitors were 229 for five at the close with Andrew Flintoff on 18 and nightwatchman James Anderson on 2 after Zaheer dismissed Ian Bell for 17 and skipper Kevin Pietersen for four in the final session. Paul Collingwood (9) was unlucky to be given out caught at short-leg off off-spinner Harbhajan Singh when TV replays showed his bat was nowhere near the point of impact. Strauss was caught and bowled by leg-spinner Amit Mishra as in-form India clawed their way back into the match. Heavily-armed policemen patrolled the boundary ropes with the stands largely empty. England resumed their aborted tour after tight security was promised for the two Tests following safety concerns in the wake of last month's attacks in Mumbai that killed 179 people. Left-handers Strauss and Cook began cautiously before going on to raise their second straight century partnership following a 123-run stand in the final Test against South Africa in August. The hosts introduced Harbhajan as early as the ninth over, indicating a spin-friendly pitch, but the England openers guided the innings to 63 for no loss at lunch. The tall and elegant Cook, who scored a century on test debut on England's previous tour of India two years ago, reached his half-century with a mighty slog-sweep off Mishra to the fence. However, the 23-year-old Essex batsman fell soon after when he miscued a slog shot against Harbhajan to be caught by Zaheer at mid-on. Strauss, who had a poor Test series against South Africa in July and August, played punishing shots square of the wicket and brought up his century was a steer to the fence off Zaheer. He hit 15 boundaries in his 233-ball effort. Bell fell leg-before to Zaheer in the first over after tea after putting on 46 for the second wicket with Strauss in a productive session. Pietersen fell shortly afterward when he top-edged a hook to be caught and bowled by Zaheer as India dominated the last session taking four wickets for just 65 runs. England handed off-break bowler Graeme Swann his Test debut. India recalled in-form Yuvraj Singh, who scored back-to-back hundreds in the one-day series, to take the middle-order slot vacated by the retirement of Saurav Ganguly. The players, wearing black arm bands, observed a minute's silence before the start of the match in memory of the victims of last month's Mumbai attacks.
