That rainbow in the sky is always a delight to see, especially with that semi-circle bridging the magnificently built Sydney Cricket Ground and the adjacent Sydney Football Ground on Saturday.

The problem with the colours, however, was the clouds and the rain they accompany. It was a painful reminder of the constant walks on and off the field in an effort to piece together an engrossing day of cricket in the second Test here.

Four rain interruptions came through today—one extended lunch and one forced early tea—leading to an extended hour of play and a half-hour early start tomorrow. That will absorb seven extra overs from today, and in the process one was left with only five overs lost on the fourth day.

Sunday promises similar gloom, but there was also some sunny action on-field today. Australia are 282/4 in 83 overs —- 213 ahead in the second innings with Michael Hussey relatively lucky to be still surviving on 87 and Andrew Symonds batting on 14.

However, Saturday’s star attraction with the willow was, for a change, a left-hander who uses his bat like a knife and with brutal force to cut open the field in contrast to Laxman’s soft brush-like strokes. And Matthew Hayden’s towering presence was much in contrast to a little man’s, who celebrated with arms held up yesterday. Sachin Tendulkar was among those who applauded Hayden’s century (123) today.

Australia got off to a good start with the overnight pair of Hayden and Phil Jaques adding 85 for the first wicket before the latter fell 15 minutes before lunch. Soon, India had gained further initiative by sending back a tentative Ricky Ponting who failed to stand up to Harbhajan Singh yet again. Ponting actually spent more time out in the middle as a runner to Hayden who had a right thigh strain.

... contd.