INDORE: Anil Kumble added three more to his tally of five first innings West Zone wickets as South brought down the defending champion to its knees in their 2006 Duleep Trophy opener here on Sunday. South won by 250 runs after bowling out West for 168 before lunch on day four. Kumble later asked for the first innings Kookaburra ball and it is now a prized object in his kitbag.

He may have wished for a slice of the bowler-friendly wicket too, the Usha Raje stadium track offering turn for Kumble and bounce for Sreesanth. The leg-spinner took a step back after a rich match haul of eight for 79 out of 18 West wickets to fall (Sairaj Bahutule did not bat in both innings to rest an injured shoulder) to give others a chance against batsmen burdened by the thought of defeat.

Two for Ojha

Young left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha grabbed two; both catches taken by Kumble in the deep to send back the gritty Rajesh Pawar and menacing Zaheer Khan (33 runs, 24 balls). West was on the backfoot from the time Kumble broke Jacob Martin's resistance with a googly towards close on day three.

Amol Muzumdar was trapped leg before by Kumble with the fourth ball on day four. Dheeraj Jadhav, attempting a fight-back after a 161-minute vigil at the crease over two days scraping for 43 runs, was rapped on the pads by a flipper. West captain Parthiv Patel lasted 44 balls, lbw to Venugopala Rao. The specialist batsmen gone at 101 for four and the target of 419 seemed a mountain looming ahead for West. Zaheer Khan avenged a mauling at Sreesanth's hands with some lusty hitting; the South spearhead doing new ball duties alone in the absence of L. Balaji opting to rest a strained back after seven overs on day one. The Zaheer-Sreesanth confrontation added spice in the closing stages.

Zaheer lashed seven boundaries, slashing over slips after making room to play balls pitched on the off and moving away, then flicking comfortably when a charged up Sreesanth switched the line of attack. Pawar, short-statured but big-hearted, stepped up the offensive against Ojha, who had the last laugh.

Gnaneshwar Rao brought off a stunning catch to cut short Rohit Sharma's stay.

The scores: South Zone — 1st innings: 291.

West Zone — 1st innings: 180 for nine.

South Zone — 2nd innings: D. Karthik b S. Trivedi 17, R. Uthappa c Patel b Zaheer 0, Venugopala Rao c Martin b Trivedi 27, V.V.S. Laxman c Muzumdar b Pawar 50, S. Badrinath c Jadeja b Zaheer 65, A. Rayudu c Jadeja b Pawar 50, A. Yadav b Trivedi 38, A. Kumble c Patel b Trivedi 6, S. Sreesanth c Patel b Trivedi 19, P. Ojha (not out) 0, L. Balaji (absent hurt); Extras (b-11, lb-3, nb-14, w-2) 30; Penalty runs: 5; Total (for nine wkts. in 89.4 overs) 307.

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-45, 3-67, 4-166, 5-196, 6-252, 7-286, 8-299, 9-307.

West bowling: Zaheer 23-6-69-2, Trivedi 17.4-4-57-5, Pawar 20.5-2-69-2, Jadeja 27-6-80-0, Pujara 0.1-0-1-0, Sharma 1-0-12-0

West Zone — 2nd innings: C. Pujara lbw b Uthappa 5, D. Jadhav lbw b Kumble 43, R. Sharma c (sub) b Sreesanth 7, J. Martin b Kumble 19, A. Muzumdar lbw b Kumble 0, P. Patel lbw b V. Rao 14, R. Jadeja b Sreesanth 21, R. Pawar c Kumble b Ojha 21, Zaheer c Kumble b Ojha 33, S. Trivedi (not out) 1, S. Bahutule (absent hurt); Extras: (b-2, lb-2, w-4) 8; Total (for nine wkts. in 55.3 overs) 168.

Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-20, 3-60, 4-60, 5-79, 6-101, 7-116, 8-161, 9-168.

South bowling: Sreesanth 16-6-59-2, Uthappa 5-3-7-1, Kumble 15-5-37-3, Ojha 12.3-1-43-2, Venugopala 7-2-18-1.

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