Dog day afternoon for England in India

A brown dog forced the umpires to call tea four balls early when it appeared from behind the sightscreen and evaded attempts to chase it from the field.

Ground staff chase a dog which ran onto the field during the first day's play in Visakhapatnam.

A stray dog spared England some punishment when it halted play shortly before tea as India piled on the runs to reach 210 for two on day one of the second Test on Thursday.

The brown dog forced the umpires to call tea four balls early when it appeared from behind the sightscreen and evaded attempts to chase it from the field.

Laughter and applause broke out as two groundsmen gave pursuit -- only to meet dogged resistance from the pitch-invader.

Cheteshwar Pujara was three runs from his century and facing Stuart Broad when the early tea was taken, with Virat Kohli on 91 at the other end.

The two had put on 188 runs for the third wicket to thwart the England bowling attack after its seamers struck early.

In 2011, India was forced to halt its first ever Formula One practice session when a stray dog ran onto the Buddh International Circuit.