Ricky Bhui made an unbeaten 103 while Baba Indrajith hit a half-century as South Zone posted a massive first innings total of 630 for eight before declaring on the second day of their Duleep Trophy semifinal against North Zone here on Friday.
In reply, North reached 24 for no loss at stumps with the talented Yash Dhull on 8 (18 balls, 1 four) and Manan Vohra batting on 11 (12 balls, 1 fours), still 606 runs adrift of South's huge first innings score.
In Coimbatore, diminutive opener Prithvi Shaw was in roaring form, hammering an unbeaten 96-ball 104 (11 fours, 3 sixes) as West Zone ended at 130 for three in the second innings to extend their lead against Central Zone to 259 runs.
Resuming at overnight 324 for two, the South batters continued to pile on the runs. Captain Hanuma Vihari, who was batting on 107 overnight, extended his partnership with Indrajith (65, 104 balls, 4 fours) to 105 runs before being trapped LBW by left-arm spinner Mayank Dagar (3 for 184).
Indrajith and Manish Pandey (35) added 57 runs for the fourth wicket before the former became Dagar's second scalp.
Pandey fell to Dagar at 440 but North's ordeal was not over as Bhui went on the attack, and with support from K Gowtham (48, 72 balls, 4 fours, 2 sixes) and T Ravi Teja (42, 66 balls, 4 fours, 1 six), swelled the South Zone total.
From 440 for five, Bhui and the others added 190 runs before skipper Vihari declared the innings.
On day one, opener Rohan S Kunnummal smashed a ton on Duleep Trophy debut to put South Zone in control.
West hits back
In the other semifinal, West Zone bowlers came to the fore and dismissed Central Zone for 128 in the first innings, a lead of 129 runs after being restricted to 257.
The attacking Shaw then made sure that West took control of proceedings by coming up with a blistering knock. His spectacular assault on the opposition bowlers meant West had seized the initiative, reaching 130 for three at the close.
After a ton in the quarterfinal against a weak North East team, Shaw demonstrated his batting skills by tearing into the Central zone attack. There was virtually no stopping Shaw as he appeared to strike boundaries at will to take the game by the scruff of the neck.
Even as Shaw went about smashing the bowlers around the park, West lost three wickets, including that of Yashasvi Jaiswal and captain Ajinkya Rahane.
Before the Shaw show, the experienced Jaydev Unadkat (3 for 24) did the early damage while spinner Tanush Kotian picked up three wickets, including that of Karan Sharma, to stifle the Central line-up.