Ace leg-spinner Anil Kumble claimed four wickets and speedster S Sreesanth three to restrict West Zone to 180 for 9 on the second day of the Duleep Trophy match against South Zone in Indore on Friday.
The India bowlers' efforts helped South Zone, who scored 291 in their first innings before being bowled out this morning, take a crucial lead of 111 runs in the four-day match.
Sairaj Bahutule, who was injured, did not turn out to bat for West.
West Zone had a shaky start as its opener Cheteshwar Poojara was bowled by Laxmipathi Balaji in the first over itself.
However, a second wicket partnership of 70 runs between Dheeraj Yadav (36, 4x4) and Rohit Sharma (41, 5x4, 1x6) gave the much-needed stability to the team.
But Kumble (18-2-42-5) and Sreesanth (18-3-65-3) struck at regular intervals to restrict the West Zone total.
Ravinder Jadeja emerged the top scorer with 53, which contained six boundaries and two sixes.
Buoyed by the lead of 111 runs, South Zone added 65 runs for loss of two wickets in their second innings, to enjoy an edge on the second day.
Scorecard
South Zone:
D Karthick b Z Khan 2
R Uthappa st P Patel b R Pawar 57
V V S Laxman run out 15
Y V Rao c R Sharma b S Bhautule 69
S Badrinath c Poojara b S Trivedi 42
A T Rayudu c P Patel b Z Khan 26
N A Yadav c P Patel b R Pawar 22
A Kumble c P Patel b Z Khan 6
L Balaji b S Bahutule 11
S Sreesanth c Muzumdar b Z Khan 11
P P Ojha not out 7
Extras: (nb-13, wb-1, lb-5, b-4) 23
Total: (all out in 93.5 overs) 291
Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-59, 3-96, 4-183, 5-228, 6-232, 7-238, 8-273, 9-273.
Bowling: Z Khan 21.5-7-44-4, S Trivedi 16-3-51-1, R Pawar 30-4-95-2, S Bahutule 19.4-3-73-2, R Jadeja 4.2-0-19-0, R Sharma 2-2-0-0.
West Zone (Ist innings):
C Poojara b Balaji 0
D Yadav c Laxman b Sreesanth 36
R Sharma b Sreesanth 41
J Martin lbw b Kumble 18
A Muzumdar lbw b Sreesanth 0
P Patel lbw b Kumble 9
R Jadeja c Rayudu b Kumble 53
R Pawar c Uthappa b Kumble 6
Z Khan not out 12
S Trivedi lbw b Kumble 0
S Bahutule did not bat
Extras: (nb-2, w-1, lb-2) 5
Total: (180 for 9 in 56 overs) 180
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-70, 3-79, 4-79, 5-100, 6-112, 7-158, 8-173, 9-180.
Bowling: L Balaji 7-3-8-1, S Sreesanth 18-3-65-3, Kumble 18-2-42-5, P P Ojha 11-1-56-0, Y V Rao 2-0-7-0.
South Zone (2nd innings):
D Karthick b S Trivedi 17
R Uthappa c P Patel b Z Khan 0
Y V Rao batting 26
V V S Laxman batting 12
Extras: (nb-4, lb-1) 5
Penalty: 5
Total: (for 2 wickets in 26 overs) 65
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-45.
Bowling: Z Khan 9-3-18-1, S Trivedi 8-2-21-1, R Pawar 5-0-10-0, R Jadeja 4-1-10-0.
