After a brilliant start on Day 1, India Blue showed no signs of slowing down, flaying an uninspiring India Green attack under lights in Greater Noida to finish on 707 all out at the end of Day 2.
Cheteshwar Pujara (166) brought up his 32nd first-class ton to set the tone early in the day. The hard-hitting Sheldon Jackson, who was the last batsman to be dismissed, smashed a belligerent 105. India Green's Shreyas Gopal came in for punishment but finished with figures of 5/173.
India Green's bowlers bowled short and wide and continued to leak runs. The ease at which the India Blue batsmen were scoring runs could not have been better explained than Pujara playing reverse-sweep shots. Abhimanyu Mithun missed out being dismissed for only 32.
That could have been the gateway for India Green to get back in the contest but the wise heads of Dinesh Karthik (48) and Pujara buckled down and put on a 108-run partnership. Karthik departed to a tame, tentative prod outside the off-stump to Ashok Dinda.
Pujara, who has made a habit of stockpiling massive first-class scores over the years, chose the wrong line to play a cut shot against Gopal, chopping the ball onto the stumps.
The signs were clear from India Blue from the time Jackson got to the crease. Parvez Rasool tried hard to muscle the ball out of the park but the ball beat his attempted hoick.
The entertainment started when Karn Sharma came to the crease. Jackson and Sharma targeted the spinners and the straight boundaries. The scoring rate increased to around six runs an over. Jackson was the final man to be dismissed, minutes after scoring his tenth first-class hundred.
Brief Scores
India Blue 707 (Cheteshwar Pujara 166, Mayank Agarwal 161, Sheldon Jackson 107; Shreyas Gopal 5/173) vs India Green
