Robin Uthappa, who hit 141, after his dismissal on Monday. A Telegraph picture

Calcutta: Propelled by Robin Uthappa’s 141 and Dinesh Karthik’s 95, South Zone bounced back in their Duleep Trophy match against Sri Lanka A at the Eden Monday.

Having started Day III with 37 runs in arrears, South not only made the Sri Lankans’ advantage recede in the background but pushed themselves to a position of strength, from where even a victory can’t be ruled out.

South ended the day at 333 for four in their innings when bad light stopped action. A total of 27 overs still remained to be completed. An overall lead of 272 is already on the board and South captain V.V.S. Laxman is yet to make up his mind about declaring the innings. However, keeping in mind the fact that only a win will ensure their passage to the title-round, it won’t be a surprise if Laxman decides to ask the rivals to face the deteriorating final-day pitch right from the word go on Tuesday.

The day, however, belonged to the South openers. Dinesh Karthik — who made it to the South Africa-bound squad for the ODI series only because Yuvraj Singh missed out due to injury —brilliantly transformed himself from Sunday’s exhibition of restless and reckless strokes to a picture of concentration and composure.

Uthappa — who failed to make the cut for the South Africa tour — also played the grafter’s role to perfection in a move, aimed at negotiating the early-morning tricks on the pitch with intelligence and prudence.

The Sri Lankan strategy, in this connection, also appeared a bit bizarre. Instead of going on the offensive, they resorted to a safer approach and perhaps the fact that a draw would take them to the final was playing on their minds.

It became clear within half-an-hour when Akalanka Ganegama — who latter bagged all four wickets to fall on Monday — was given a short spell and leg-spinner Upul Chandana was introduced in the attack.

It was essentially a defensive ploy with Chandana bowling round the wicket and as many as six players protecting the leg-side. Karthik and Uthappa were also keen to keep their wickets intact as the game started petering out to a humdrum show. The duo put on 167 in the opening stand before Karthik departed, five runs away from a truly-deserved century. On 95 (which came off 160 balls and included 11 boundaries), he tried to hit Ganegama for six, but was caught at mid-off by Thilan Samaraweera. The Sri Lankan captain, incidentally, was also involved in the dismissals of the first three South batsmen.

Uthappa, by now, showed his aggression while Laxman also started on a promising note and some of his shots around the pads were a real treat to watch. However, their stand — which produced 125 runs — was broken with the 21-year-old opener getting out following a mistimed stroke.

His captain followed him soon, failing to convert his start into something significant.