West Zone's batting stars Ajinkya Rahane and Shreyas Iyer flattered to deceive as South Zone restricted them to 250/8 on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy final in Coimbatore on Wednesday.
It was young Gujarat wicketkeeper Het Patel (96 not out) and his 83-run stand for the ninth wicket with Saurashtra veteran Jaydev Unadkat (39 not out) which helped West recover from a precarious 167/8.
But, much was expected of an incredibly strong West's batting line-up that boasts of Rahane (8), Iyer (37), Sarfaraz Khan (34), Yashasvi Jaiswal (1) and current India A captain Priyank Panchal (7).
For South Zone, pacers Basil Thampi (2/42 in 15 overs) and CV Stephen (2/39 in 10 overs) blew away the West top-order within first half an hour.
And then, in-form left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore (3/80 in 32 overs) first choked and then ran through the middle-order before the lower order resistance somewhat brought the West back into the game.
After South captain Hanuma Vihari elected to bat, Andhra left-arm seamer Stephen made most of the conditions as he got Jaiswal caught behind by wicketkeeper Ricky Bhui.
Rahane started with a boundary but old habits came to haunt him as Ravi Teja snapped one in the slip cordon when Kerala speedster Thampi got him to edge one behind the stumps.
For right-hander Panchal, Stephen's delivery straightened a touch after pitching and had the India A captain plumb in-front.
West were reeling on 16/3 before Sarfaraz and Iyer came together and looked like resurrecting the innings with a 48-run stand.
While Sarfaraz held one end up, Iyer played his strokes, hitting four boundaries and a six.
It was Sai Kishore, who had Iyer caught by Indrajith just when the batter looked set and in the identical manner got Sarfaraz when his 117-ball vigil ended.
The Tamil Nadu left-arm spinner then rocked West with his third scalp as left-hander Mulani was trapped by a delivery that turned back a shade into him.
Het, on his part, stemmed the rot, during his 178-ball stay in which there were six boundaries and a six.
Het first added 63 for the seventh wicket with Atit Seth (25) before Thampi made the breakthrough with the old ball as he dismissed the latter.
Off-spinner Krishnappa Gowtham (1/73 in 26 overs) got the wicket Tanush Kotian before Het-Unadkat defied South for 21 overs.
Brief Scores:
West Zone 1st Innings 250/8 in 90 overs (Het Patel 96 not out Jaydev Unadkat 39 not out, R Sai Kishore 3/80) vs South Zone.
