India 179-1 v England
Day two of the second Test in Mohali was able to start half an hour early as scheduled as England urgently seek wickets to get into the match.
The tourists struck only once, in the second over, on a gloomy first day and saw India compile 179-1.
The murky light that led to an early finish on Friday was still in evidence but the umpires decided that conditions were sufficiently tolerable to start.
Gautam Gambhir and Rahul Dravid are the obdurate men England need to dislodge.
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By Ben Dirs
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606: DEBATE
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0344 - 183-1 Short and wide from Flintoff and Gambhir rolls his wrists and flashes him through point for four. Any England fans feeling gloomy about England's recent performances should think yourself lucky you're not a Kiwi: McIntosh and Flynn have put on 70-odd for the second wicket in the first innings of the second Test against the West Indies... in 40-odd overs. That is Old Skool.
0339 - 179-1 Broad takes the second over, and Dravid blocks the first five balls and leaves the last. Aaah, Christmas parties. Our one was cancelled this year, the BBC can't be seen to be throwing money around when everyone else is being credit crunched. Any inappropriate 'lunges' at the office saucepot Jimmy? What would an office Christmas party be without a couple of inappropriate lunges...
"Just got back from our Christmas party and in dire need of sleep, but knowing me I won't be able to do that whilst there's a Test match on! Hopefully a few early wickets to keep me smiling, because a lack of sleep and England being blown away might make me a little cranky tomorrow."
Jimmy in the TMS inbox
0335 - 179-1 Rahul Dravid and Gautam Gambhir make their way to the middle, cutting through the gloom like a couple of characters from a Lowry painting. It really is that grim out there. Freddie Flintoff takes the first over, and Gambhir takes no chances. We've got Australia v South Africa in Perth on another. I know where I'd rather be.
0324: Jonathan Agnew on TMS tells us that we will be starting on time, and also that this is the only Test match he's ever covered in which he "gets up when it's dark". England could do with a couple of wickets before lunch, otherwise India could be over the hill and far away by the end of today and facing a battle to save this Test on a disintegrating wicket. Get your emails in, I could do with some company.
0319: The chaps over at cricinfo, whose work I copy sometimes, inform me that it's gloomy again in Mohali, but that the umpires are "confident of starting on time". I'll keep you posted.
0315: Morning all. Let's hope for a slightly less downbeat day than yesterday, when Mohali looked like Chester-le-Street in April and Gautam Gambhir and Rahul Dravid ground England's bowlers into dust. To compound the misery, my mum announced over the phone that, after 30-odd years of "I'm not going mad this Christmas, it's just going to be bits and bobs", no-one in the Dirs family is getting anything this year, meaning the credit crunch has even wiped out marzipan fruit. Cosmic.
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