A solid knock of 64 runs by captain Mohammed Kaif helped the Central Zone score 238 for seven on the opening day of their four-day Duleep Trophy cricket tie against visiting side England Lions in Vadodara on Sunday.
The Uttar Pradesh right-hander hit 13 boundaries facing 121 balls and spent about 150 minutes at crease.
Kaif was involved in two good partnerships - first with opener Vineet Saxena (34) which fetched 54 runs and then with Sanjay Bangar (29) for the fourth wicket that yielded 55.
Leg-break bowler Adil Rasid clean bowled Kaif.
Central were asked to bat after England Lions captain ED Joyce won the toss at the Motibaug Cricket Ground. Openers Faiz Fazal (37) and Vineet Saxena put on 54 runs.
After Fazal's departure at 54, Jalaj Saxena did not contribute much and was caught behind the wicket when his individual score was nine.
At tea, Central had reached 180 runs for four. After the break, England Lions managed to capture three more wickets to push the Central side on the back foot.
At the close of play, Sanjib Sanyal (8) and Pravin Gupta (4) were at the crease.
For the visitors, right-arm medium pacers Graham Onions and Alan Richardson captured two wickets each.