The relentless West Zone bowlers left South Zone on a fragile terrain at 182 for seven on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy final in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
Fielding by choice, West never let the advantage slip on a largely overcast day that was eventually called off a few minutes into the extended session due to poor light.
Captain Hanuma Vihari offered a lone battle while making 63 off 130 balls for South. But the conditions meant that single man heroics would not suffice.
Even though they were operating in a favourable space, West Zone pacers Arzan Nagwaswalla, Chintan Gaja and Atit Sheth should be lauded for maintaining a tight leash on South batting.
They moved the ball quite appreciably to keep Mayank Agarwal and R Samarth, the South openers, cautious.
The first wicket did not take long to come, though it was more the result of the batter's callousness.
Samarth opted to cut Gaja's short and wide delivery outside the off-stump and Harvik Desai, who replaced Het Patel, completed a simple catch behind the stumps.
Thereafter Mayank and Tilak Varma started to move things ahead for the South. In the process, Mayank, who began the match at 6976 runs, also completed 7000 runs in First-Class cricket from 159 innings.
However, Mayank was not able to convert the start. He often tried to negate the movement while walking down the pitch, and it was bound to bring undesired results at some point.
It transpired this soon. The Karnataka right-hander's expansive drive off Sheth had fatal consequences, ending in a catch to Sarfaraz Khan at third slip.
At 42 for 2, South were in some danger but the best passage of their innings followed. Tilak and Hanuma Vihari milked 79 runs for the third wicket as South inched towards a safer zone. South went to lunch at 100 for two.
Vihari was particularly impressive, neutralising the pacers in a manual-perfect way. The Hyderabad right-hander played the quicks closer to his body, muffling the bounce and movement. It helped him resist the West bowlers for over three hours on the day.
Vihari brought out his wristy flicks whenever the pacers drifted on to his pads, adding that touch of elegance to his otherwise doughty innings.
The extra second he had in his hand to play the ball was quite evident and his method was quite different from other South top order batters who went in search of the ball.
Unfortunately, playing late led to his doom as well. Vihari tried to late cut left-arm spinner Shams Mulani but the ball snaked onto the stumps after taking the edge of his bat.
Tilak perished to Nagwaswalla as the West Zone ate into the meat of South batting order quickly in the post lunch session.
West snaffled four wickets in this period for 66 runs to leave their opponents in a spot of bother.
