In contrast, South Zone despite eking out a 29-run lead seemingly lost the edge when vice-captain Robin Singh was struck on the face by a Harvinder delivery. Though the 35-year-old all-rounder gallantly continued until he was dismissed, the damage on his upper lip needed two stitches which eventually ruled him out from the remainder of the third day's proceedings. ``There's no cause for worry. Robin will definitely play tomorrow,'' revealed manager K Jayaram to allay fears of his participation in the match. ``The injury was caused by the grill of the helmet which bore the impact of the delivery,'' he added.

Robin Singh's injury notwithstanding, South were staring at impending danger of a big target tochase when stumps were drawn for the day. And the men pioneering North's run charge were Rathour (batting 102) and Dharmani (batting 65) with their unbroken alliance of 149 runs.

Rathour, who has returned three-figure marks whenever he has played at this venue, extended the sequence which also saw him post the 1000-mark in the competition. The bearded Punjab opener blended caution with aggression while overcoming the loss of Jitender Singh to the fifth ball of the innings bowled by left-arm medium-pacer Hannumara Ramkishen. In fact, Rathore was content in dropping anchor while the support cast of Rajeev Nayyar (43) and Dharmani went for the jugular. It was only in the later part of his innings that Rathore opened out garnering the last 50 off his 100 runs in 67 balls.

Nayyar, who meant business from the start, was the scourge of Ramkishen, forcing the bowler out of the attack. Nayyar, however, fell to the same bowler trying an overambitious hook that ballooned to wicket-keeper Somasekhar Shiraguppi, whoalmost grassed it but Sujit Somasundar's alacrity retrieved the situation. The Himachal Pradesh's batsman's association with Rathour was worth 75 runs.

Nayyar's exuberance rubbed off on next man Dharmani, who continued to provide a steady flow of runs best indicated by the three sixers he struck off leg-spinner Ananthapadmanabhan.

The Punjab batsman, however, had a reprieve when Somasundar, diving backwards, grassed a leading edge much to the agony of left-arm spinner Venkatapathy Raju, the only bowler threatening to inflict damage.

Earlier, Harvinder Singh, who bowled with the old ball throughout, dented South's hopes of a handy lead. That they could only muster 62 runs to supplement the overnight score of 192-5 is ample testimony. The Punjab medium-pacer claimed the prize wicket of Robin Singh (26) but not before softening him with a painful reminder. Trying to pull a short delivery, Robin misjudged it only to see the ball crash onto his face.

Raju and Narendra Pal Singh (23), provided some succourwith a quick-fire 36-run partnership of 7.4 overs which saw South nose ahead of the rival total.

While Rathour is aiming to set a target of 350 runs before unleashing his medium-pacers, his opposite number Raju feels that his batsmen would have to show better application if they are to meet Central Zone in the next round.

Scoreboard

North Zone (1st innings): 225

South Zone (1st innings) (overnight 192-5: Sujit Somasunder c Dahiya b Nehra 18 (63b, 92m, 4x4), Arvind Shetty c Nayyar b Harvinder Singh 59 (139b, 217m, 8x4), Sridharan Sriram lbw b Sehwag 11 (51b, 65m), Vijay Bharadwaj c Nayyar b Bhandari 23 (39b, 65m, 4x4), Sridharan Sharath c Dahiya b Sehwag 14 (17b, 28m, 3x4), Robin Singh c Bhandari b Harvinder 30 (65b, 101m, 4x4, 1x6), Somasekhar Shiraguppi c Dahiya b Sehwag 26 (92b, 113m, 3x4), Ananthapadmanabhan c Nayyar b Sehwag 6 (12b, 20m, 1x4), Venkatapathy raju not out 8, Narender Pal Singh c Manhas b Bhandari 23 (22b, 36m, 2x4, 1x6); Extras: (6b, 11lb, 19nb) 36. Total (for nine wicketsdeclared off 85.4 overs, 395 mins) 254

Fall of wickets: 1-43, 2-89, 3-133, 4-137, 5-148, 6-200, 7-213, 8-218, 9-254Bowling: Harvinder Singh 24-9-45-2 (1nb), Nehra 21-2-77-1 (9nb), Bhandari 19.4-3-69-2 (9nb), Sehwag 18-9-32-4, Jain 3-1-14-0

North Zone (2nd innings): Jitender Singh b Ramkishen 0 (5b, 5m), Vikram Rathour batting 102 (204b, 278m, 10x4, 1x6), Rajeev Nayyar c Somasundar b Ramkishen 43 (62b, 85m, 9x4), Pankaj Dharmani batting 65 (158b, 188m, 4x4, 3x6); Extras: (4b, 1lb, 9nb) 14. Total: (for two wickets off 70 overs)Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-75

Bowling: Ramkishen 15-2-64-2 (8nb), NP Singh 5-0-18-0 (1nb), Raju 24-10-44-0, Bharadwaj 4-2-13-0, Ananthapadmanabhan 12-3-45-0, Sriram 9-1-35-0