Cheteshwar Pujara compiled a hundred full of intent to push West Zone to 292 for 9 in their second innings against Central Zone, and place his side firmly on the path to the Duleep Trophy final in Alur on Friday.
Riding on Pujara's 133 off 278 balls, West, after starting the day at 149 for 3, swelled their lead to a commanding 384 on a rain-hit third day which forced an early closure.
Pujara, overnight 50, fell into his gear early and never really gave any chance to the bowlers. His innings had 14 boundaries and a six and so far he has batted for 366 minutes.
Central Zone started the day on a bright note dismissing Sarfaraz Khan in the very first over of the day.
The Mumbai youngster edged left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar to stumper Upendra Yadav, who held onto a rather simple chance. It also ended an underwhelming outing for him, making 0 and 6 in the match.
Central bowlers continued to trouble batsmen at the other end, but Pujara was immovable. The Saurashtra star indicated his intent in the first session itself, playing out 102 balls for 42 runs with three fours.
As is his vaunt, Pujara snipped all the risks from his game at this stage and offered shots only to those balls that thoroughly deserved to put away.
Het Patel, who made 27, did the major scoring during this period and the right-hander was very easy on the eyes as well.
Pujara went into lunch on 92 and hardly wasted any time to reach the landmark upon his return. Pujara hammered Saurabh for a couple of fours, one through the cover and one behind the point fielder, to complete his hundred.
Once he went past the milestone, Pujara transformed into a different batter. Saurabh and off-spinner Saransh Jain, who combined to take seven wickets among them, were put to the sword.
Pujara unfurled some attractive shots too, and his six off Saurabh was quite a stunner. The ball drifted on his leg and Pujara sent it soaring over mid-wicket with a simple flick of his wrists.
Then there were those archetypal flicks off the pads off both pacers and spinners, who did the bulk of bowling on the day, as West raced ahead of Central's reach.
With wickets tumbling constantly at the other end, Pujara wanted to keep the strike, and his attempt to take a quick single off the last ball of an over resulted in his run out.
But by then, he had done enough to seal the fate of the match. If there is no play on the final day, West will enter the final by the virtue of their 92-run first innings lead.
Vyshak takes five as South Zone on course to chase down 215
Pacer Vyshak Vijaykumar engineered a middle-order collapse with a five-wicket haul, putting South Zone on course towards the victory target of 215 in their Duleep Trophy semi-final against North Zone in Bengaluru on Friday.
From a relatively comfortable 146 for three, Vyshak's (5/76 in 15 overs) burst with the old ball found North Zone slumping to 171 for 8 before they were bowled out for 211 in just 56.4 overs in their second innings on a rain hit day three.
Before heavens opened up in the final session, South Zone openers B Sai Sudharsan (3 batting) and seasoned Mayank Agarwal (15 batting) knocked off 21 off the target and would hope that weather doesn't play spoilsport on the final day.
The South Zone batters would also like to remember that they had conceded a slender but a very important three-run lead in the first innings, which could be decisive on the final day in case they don't get time to chase down the target.
At the start of the day, another Karnataka pacer Vidwath Kaverappa (2/47 in 17 overs) got Ankit Kalsi (29) to nick one to Ricky Bhui behind the stumps.
But the supremely talented Prabhsimran Singh (63 off 93 balls) and Haryana man Ankit Kumar (29) made amends with a 85-run stand for the fourth wicket.
Just as North stood on the cusp of 150-run overall lead, Vyshak bowled what could potentially be a game-changing spell with the old ball.
He had a well-set Prabhsimran caught by R Sai Kishore and then removed Jayant Yadav and Pulkit Narang in a space of three deliveries.
A few overs later, the dangerous Nishant Sindhu was accounted for and there was no way that North could have made a comeback.
Harshit Rana (38 off 36 balls), who also had an impressive cameo in the first innings, did use the long handle to good effect to take the total past 200-run mark.
While North Zone couldn't get a breakthrough on the day, they would feel encouraged by the fact that South, after cruising during better part of the first innings, faltered badly to concede the first innings lead.
A lot will depend on how North skipper Jayant Yadav and his off-spin partner Pulkit Narang fare on the final day and whether they can get some assistance off the surface.
Not having a single left-arm spinner could hurt their cause, especially if they had witnessed how R Sai Kishore of South Zone (3/28 in 7.4 overs) performed.
Brief Scores: North Zone 195 and 211 in 56.4 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 63, Vyshak Vijaykumar 5/76). South Zone 195 and (target 215) 21/0.
