West Zone took command of the Duleep Trophy final after scoring 459 in the first innings and then reducing South Zone to 106 for 4 by stumps on the second day of the five-day match at the M.A. Chidambaram stadium in Chennai on Friday.

Skipper Subramaniam Badrinath [Images], who was unbeaten on 54 at stumps, holds the key to South's fortunes. Keeping him company at stumps was Dinesh Karthik [Images] on 5

Earlier, West, resuming at the overnight score of 303-5, were dismissed for 459 in 141.4 overs. Ajinkya Rahane, who was unbeaten on 109 at stumps on Day 1, top-scored with 165 runs.

Bhavik Thaker (73) and Kedar Jadhav (47) made useful contributions in the latter part of West's innings to swell the total handsomely.

S Sreesanth [Images] (3-108) and Ravichandran Ashwin (3-134) were South's most successful bowlers.

In reply, Robin Uthappa and Murali Vijay gave South a good start but soon found themselves in trouble with introduction of spin in the form of left-arm spinner Rajesh Pawar and off-spinner Ramesh Powar [Images].

Pawar scalped Vijay, the batsman edging one to wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel [Images] and then Uthappa failed to read a delivery and was bowled Powar as he stepped out to hit him

Worse was in store for South as Rahul Dravid [Images] was caught at gully by Kedar Jadhav off Pawar's bowling for 5.

Badrinath, who scored 200 in the semi-final against North, however, batted watchfully to keep South's hopes alive.

Scorecard

West Zone (1st innings):
P Patel lbw b Ashwin 27
W Jaffer b Jakati 69
A Rahane lbw b Ashwin 165
C Pujara lbw b Ashwin 14
B Thaker c Dravid b Sreesanth 73
A Nayar c Karthik b Sreesanth 0
S Trivedi lbw b Jakati 23
K Jadhav c Karthik b Suresh 47
R Pawar c Dravid b Sreesanth 18
R Powar run out (sub [PR Prem]) 12
D Kulkarni not out 0
Extras: (b 4, w 1, nb 6) 11
Total: (all out; 141.4 overs; 563 mins) 459 (3.24 runs per over)

Fall of wickets: 1-55, 2-132, 3-163, 4-297, 5-303, 6-360, 7-397, 8-424, 9-455, 10-459.

Bowling: S Sreesanth 26.2-5-108-3 (5nb, 1w); Vinay Kumar 6.4-1-20-0 (1nb), R Ashwin 48-9-134-3; M Suresh 24.4-5-94-1; S Jakati 29-6-83-2, S Badrinath 3-0-8-0; R Uthappa 4-1-8-0.

South Zone (1st innings):
R Uthappa b Powar 32
M Vijay c Patel b Pawar 10
S Badrinath not out 54
R Dravid c Jadhav b Pawar 5
M Suresh run out (Pawar/Powar) 0
K Karthik not out 5
Extras: 0
Total: (for 4 wickets; 38 overs) 106
To bat: R Ashwin, AS Yadav, R Vinay Kumar, SB Jakati, S Sreesanth 

Fall of wickets: 1-28, 2-71, 3-92, 4-94.

Bowling: D Kulkarni 9-3-23-0; S Trivedi 10-1-22-0; R Pawar 10-4-36-2; R Powar 9-1-25-1.