CHENNAI, India (AP):

ANDREW STRAUSS and Paul Collingwood put on an unbroken 129-run partnership yesterday for England to lead India by 247 at stumps on the third day of the opening Test.

Strauss was on 73 and chasing his second century in the Test and Collingwood was 60 at Chidambaram Stadium to steer England to 172 for three in their second innings on a track that is expected to deteriorate as the match proceeds.

England posted 316 in their first innings and secured a 75-run lead by bowling India out for 241.

Strauss, who top scored with 123 in England's first innings, was looking to match the feat of former captain Graham Gooch, who became the only Englishman to score centuries in both innings of a Test against India at Lord's in 1990.

In all, nine England batsman have achieved the feat on 10 occasions. Everton Weekes of the West Indies, South Africa's Gary Kirsten and Sri Lanka's Duleep Mendis are the only batsmen from touring teams to post centuries in each innings of a Test in India.

Strauss struck five boundaries from 149 deliveries to rally England from a jittery 43 for three after India's bowlers had dismissed Alastair Cook for seven, Ian Bell for seven and captain Kevin Pietersen for one.

Cook was caught by wicketkeeper and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni off pace ace Ishant Sharma, Bell was caught by Gautam Gambhir at forward short-leg off Amit Mishra and left-arm spinner Yuvraj Singh trapped Pietersen lbw with his first delivery.

Strauss made India pay dearly for his spilled catch on 15 by Dhoni off Mishra, frustrating the bowlers with his compact defence and the ability to place his shots in the gaps.

Collingwood matched him stroke for stroke, hitting six boundaries off 128 balls. But he said it was Strauss who had set an example for England's batsmen.

"Strauss played everything very late and set an example for the rest of us," Collingwood said. "He came in mentally fresh and focused on the job."

Came under pressure

Collingwood said his innings came under pressure, but "you have to make it count when you get in".

"The wicket has started to crumble a bit and we'd like to make another 150," he said.

Kirsten, South Africa's former opener who is now India's coach, said there was a long way to go in this contest.

"England played very well to get into the position they are in, but there's still a long way to go in this match," Kirsten said. "We ha ve not batted well enough, but this Indian team is capable of doing anything. The boys can come up with some special stuff.

"If you land the ball in certain areas it can do something, but we have also seen that you can bat on this track if you apply yourself."

Earlier, Dhoni (53) and Harbhajan Singh (40) put on a defiant 75-run stand for the seventh wicket. Resuming on the overnight score of 155 for six, Dhoni and Harbhajan thwarted England's attack for 1 1/4 hours.

Harbhajan struck seven boundaries from 58 balls before his 87-minute innings ended as he turned Monty Panesar's fuller-pitched delivery to Bell at forward short-leg.

Zaheer Khan survived a confident lbw appeal by Panesar on the first delivery he faced but didn't last much longer, managing just one before paceman Andrew Flintoff trapped him plumb lbw with a sharp off-cutter.

Dhoni posted his fifth half-century in six innings as Test captain but fell soon after. His 82-ball innings, containing five boundaries, ended when he lofted Panesar straight to opposing captain Pietersen at mid-off.

India's last pair of Mishra and Sharma (eight not out) kept England's bowlers at bay for 23 minutes, before Flintoff bowled Mishra for 12 with the fourth delivery after lunch. Flintoff was the most successful England bowler with 3-49, while Panesar had 3-65.