Indore: Half-centuries by Robin Uthappa and Yalaka Venugopala Rao helped South Zone reach 281 for nine on the opening day of the four-day Duleep Trophy tie against West Zone at the Usharaje Ground here on Thursday.

A fine knock of 57 (4x10, 6x1) by Uthappa and the fourth wicket partnership between Rao (69 4x10) and Subramaniam Badrinath (42, 3x4 6x1) gave the team the much-needed stand to build a decent total.

BRIEF SCORES

South Zone 281/9 (Y. Venugopal Rao 69, Robin Uthappa 57, Subramaniam Badrinath 42; Zaheer 3/38) vs West Zone.