Skipper Hrishikesh Kanitkar's heroic knock of 98 and a gallant 37-run alliance by the last-wicket pair of Abey Kuruvilla (28) and Nilesh Kulkarni (10 not out) were the ingredients that sparked a glimmer of hope for West. Thus, Central, threatening to gobble up the opposition, had to be content with a 63-run lead. And when stumps were drawn, they had swelled it to 121 with opener Gagan Khoda (28) and Jai Prakash Yadav (27) surviving a gruelling ordeal triggered by Kuruvilla.

Earlier, Murali Karthik spun a web of discomfort around the West Zone batsmen intent on defiance. The Chennai-born 22-year-old claimed four ofthe six West wickets that fell this afternoon to log his first five-wicket haul in the tournament. His figures of the day read an impressive 17-7-37-4.

The Railways left-arm spinner however, smeared his performance sheet by spilling a skier that denied his team the luxury of a three-figure cushion. Kuruvilla, who was the beneficiary, went on to frustrate the rivals in the company of Kulkarni until Central skipper Gyanendra Pandey breached the former's defence. Nighwatchman Paras Mhambrey (15) did a commendable job of thwarting the opposition for 75 minutes when West resumed the innings this morning at 151-5.

After Mhambrey's exit Sitanshu Kotak (25) provided a brief resistance even as Kanitkar appeared on course to a deserving century. However, the Maharashtra lad succumbed to the nervous nineties when he tried to play Karthik off the pads and ended up snicking the ball to wicket-keeper Manoj Mudgal.

Local lad Iqbal Siddiqui induced some sensation claiming opener Jyoti Yadav (0) when Central had barelyopened account in their second essay. It was West's only success as their bowlers, save Kuruvilla, failed to exploit the conditions.

Scoreboard

Central Zone (1st innings): 225

West Zone (1st innings; overnight 151-4): Sameer Dighe b JP Yadav 5 (29b, 34m, 1x4), Wasim Jaffer c Mudgal b Karthik 15 (51b, 61m, 3x4), Jatin Paranjpe c Khurasia b Parida 7, Hrishikesh Kanitkar c Mudgal b Karthik (250b, 319m, 16x4, 1x6) Abhijit Kale c Khurasia b JP Yadav 36 (80b, 111m, 7x4), Paras Mhambrey c Mudgal b Pandey 15 (73b, 86m, 3x4), Sitanshu Kotak c Khoda b Karthik 25 (54b, 66m, 5x4), Sairaj Bahutule c Khoda b Karthik 2 (14b, 22m), Iqbal Siddiqui lbw b Karthik 9 (19b, 27m, 1x4), Abey Kuruvilla b Pandey 28 (59b, 66m, 4x4), Nilesh Kulkarni not out 10 (29b, 44m, 2x4).

Extras: (19b, 7lb, 5nb) 31. Total: (all out in 116.2 overs, 454 mins) 281

Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-33, 3-43, 4-147, 5-182, 6-223, 7-232, 8-233, 9-244.

Bowling: Zaidi 19-2-59-0 (5nb), Karthik 36-15-73-5, JP Yadav 20-9-32-2, Parida 18-8-48-1,Pandey 20.2-9-31-2, Kaif 3-0-12-0. Central Zone (2nd innings): Jyoti Yadav lbw b Siddiqui 0 (11b, 9m), Gagan Khoda batting 28 (77b, 116m, 3x4), Jai Prakash Yadav batting 27 (95b, 106m, 4x4), Extras: (3nb) 3.

Total: (for one wicket in 30 overs, 116 mins) 58 Fall of wickets: 1-1.

Bowling: Mhambrey 5-3-5-0, Siddiqui 3-1-4-1, Kulkarni 6-0-11-0, Kuruvilla 8-2-21-0 (3nb), Bahutule 4-1-7-0, Kotak 2-1-6-0, Kanitkar 2-0-4-0.