Jackson, Karthik steady India Blue before rain arrives again

An unbroken 85-run partnership between Sheldon Jackson and Dinesh Karthik went some way towards repairing India Blue's Tuesday collapse on another rain-truncated day. After the first session and a bit were lost owing to a wet outfield, India Blue scored 85 runs in the 16.2 overs that were possible before rain halted play again.

It was eventually decided, at a little past 8 pm, that no further play was possible. With the weather holding up play on each day of the game, it is possible neither team will have enough time to press for a first-innings advantage on the last day.

Had India Red entered the field with thoughts of razing the opponents' middle order, they were in for a reality check as Jackson and Karthik reminded them of their hard grind on the first day. Tactically, too, there were some strange decisions from India Red captain Yuvraj Singh: he chose to open the evening's proceedings with Pradeep Sangwan and Ishwar Pandey rather than Kuldeep Yadav, who had his name against four of five India Blue wickets. While he soon replaced Pandey with Nathu Singh, it wasn't until the eighth over of the evening that Kuldeep came on.

The moment had probably passed as Jackson and Karthik had bedded in nicely. Jackson confirmed this by smashing Kuldeep's first two balls for boundaries - the first ball was swatted over wide long-on, while the next one, a half-tracker, was savagely pulled in front of square. After he steered Nathu between slip and gully, he again turned his attention to Kuldeep in the next over, reaching out and driving him smoothly through the covers.

It wasn't long before Karthik joined the fun with a pull shot, and after scoring 55 runs in the first 10 overs, India Red continued to zip ahead before rain appeared again. India Red's bowlers and fielders, who had to contend with a damp, faltering outfield, wouldn't have minded the intervention.