After skipper Dinesh Karthik's attacking 183, it was pacer Chandrasekar Ganapathy who shone with the ball to steer South Zone to a commanding position against West Zone on Day 2 of the five-day Duleep Trophy final in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
Ganapathy rattled the top order, claiming five wickets for 75, as West were dismissed for 251 in their first innings, built mainly around Yusuf Pathan's breezy 108.
At the end of the second day, South had extended their overall lead to 191.
In their second essay, South were 42 without loss, with S Anirudha (23) and K Pawan (14) at the crease.
Earlier, South's first innings folded for exactly 400, after adding just 44 runs to their overnight score, with Karthik contributing 23 runs.
Irfan Pathan was the most successful bowler for West, scalping five wickets for 100.
Scorecard
South Zone (1st innings):
S Anirudha c Shah b I Pathan 19
K Pawan lbw I Pathan 0
A Karthik c Jaffer b Kulkarni 22
G Satish c sub (Iqbal Abdulla) b I Pathan 53
D Karthik c Thaker b Kulkarni 183
C Gautam c Khadiwale b Jadeja 49
P Prem c Pathak b Jadeja 24
C Ganapathy c Pathak b I Pathan 12
S Aravind c Pathak b Salvi 1
A Absolem not out 15
R Aushik Srinivas b I Pathan 0
Extras: (lb 9, w 6, nb 7) 22
Total: (all out; 103 overs; 465 mins) 400 (3.88 runs per over)
Fall of wicket: 1-10, 2-34, 3-76, 4-120, 5-241, 6-330, 7-364, 8-367, 9-389, 10-400.
Bowling: I Pathan 26-3-100-5(3w); D Kulkarni 21-2-90-2 (5nb, 3w); A Salvi 20-4-53-1; H Khadiwale 2-0-8-0; R Jadeja 16-2-58-2; R Powar 16-1-70-0 (2nb); Y Pathan 2-0-12-0.
West Zone (1st innings):
C Pathak c Karthik b Ganapathy 4
H Khadiwale c AB Karthik b Ganapathy 12
W Jaffer c Anirudha b Ganapathy 11
Y Pathan lbw Aushik Srinivas 108
B Thaker b Ganapathy 0
R Jadeja c Anirudha b Aravind 10
I Pathan c D Karthik b Absolem 21
R Powar c D Karthik b Ganapathy 20
P Shah run out (Satish) 19
D Kulkarni not out 27
A Salvi c Gautam b Aravind 16
Extras: (nb 3) 3
Total: (all out; 56.2 overs; 259 mins) 251 (4.45 runs per over)
Fall of wicket: 1-13, 2-18, 3-62, 4-70, 5-113, 6-161, 7-184, 8-188, 9-221, 10-251.
Bowling: C Ganapathy 17-1-75-5; A Absolem 13-3-49-1 (2nb); S Aravind 16.2-5-76-2; R Aushik Srinivas 10-3-51-1 (1nb).
South Zone (2nd innings):
S Anirudha not out 23
K Pawan not out 14
Extras: (b4, nb1) 5
Total: (0 wickets; 9 overs) 42
To bat: A Karthik, G Satish, D Karthik, C Gautam, P Prem, C Ganapathy, S Aravind, A Absolem, R Aushik Srinivas
Bowling: I Pathan 4-0-25-0; A Salvi 3-1-6-0; D Kulkarni 2-0-7-0 (1nb)