BENGALURU: The Central Zone bowlers, led by captain Shivam Mavi (4/43), silenced the big guns in the West Zone batting line-up to restrict it to 216 for eight and take control of the proceedings on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy semi-final contest here on Wednesday.

The only batter who showed resistance was No.7 Atit Sheth, who made a composed 74 off 129 balls (9 fours, 1 six). Prithvi Shaw and captain Priyank Panchal (13) started on a good note, and they had the assistance of fortune. Shaw was handed a lifeline on 16 when Vivek Singh dropped him at first slip off pacer Yash Thakur.

But, left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar (1/64) removed Shaw for 26 as the opening batter’s punch was grabbed at silly point by Dhruv Jurel after a juggle. The dismissal opened the floodgates as West lost wickets at regular intervals.

The seasoned Suryakumar Yadav was given a reprieve on seven as Vivek dropped his second catch of the match, this time off pace bowler Mavi. But Suryakumar (7) was unable to exploit the opportunity as a swat away from the body off the very next ball ended in the hands of Jurel at slips.

Sarfaraz Khan, who headed into the match riding on a mountain of runs, could only last for a 12-ball nought, dragging a Mavi delivery back onto his stumps. Cheteshwar Pujara made a 102-ball 28 and looked set for a long haul. However, Mavi returned to dismiss the veteran batter as West slipped to 110 for six in the 49th over.

The only negative during this phase of domination for Central was the collision involving Avesh Khan and Rinku Singh, who went after a skier played by Sheth. Avesh did not bowl for the rest of the day and Rinku had limited participation. The seventh-wicket alliance between Sheth and Dharmendra Jadeja was resolute, milking 73 runs to keep the persistent Central bowlers at bay. The stubborn stand came to an end when Jadeja (39) was sent back by Saransh Jain (1/29).

Mavi then induced an edge from Sheth that was gobbled up by Jurel as Central stamped its footprint.