India B 210 for 6 (Easwaran 116, Arshdeep 3-30) trail India D 349 (Samson 106, Saini 5-74) by 139 runs

Easwaran backed his unbeaten 157 in the previous game with a second-straight century, a 170-ball 116, before being adjudged caught behind. Easwaran, who went for a hook shot, seemed to suggest the ball had deflected off his arm guard.

The runs couldn't have come at a better time, given India will be looking to possibly narrow down on a reserve openers' slot while looking ahead to the India A tour to Australia, followed by the five-Test Border Gavaskar Trophy, also in Australia.

This included the big wickets of Suryakumar Yadav (5) and the in-form Musheer Khan (5). Nitish Kumar Reddy, among the BCCI's target pool of players, bagged a third single-digit score in the tournament, two of them ducks, when he was nicked off by Arshdeep.

Washington Sundar batted with composure to remain unbeaten on 39 at stumps. He'll have to do a bulk of the scoring on Saturday if India D are to minimise what could be a massive first-innings deficit.