Skipper Tilak Varma was unbeaten on 56 off 133 balls, while CV Milind was yet to score at stumps. South Zone still trail by 466 runs after East posted a massive 708, leaving them with a huge task to save the match.
Shami bowled three short spells during the day — 3-2-1-0, 4-1-10-1 and 4-1-6-1 — finishing with figures of 11-4-17-2.
While the numbers may not look extraordinary, Shami once again showed his control and ability to step up when it mattered. The 36-year-old bowled a tight stump-to-stump line and rarely gave the batters room to play their shots.
Shaik Rasheed and Devdutt Padikkal had put together 56 runs for the third wicket and looked comfortable. But Shami broke the partnership by trapping Rasheed leg before wicket with a delivery that moved in just enough to beat his forward defence.
Shami returned 20 overs later and struck again. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who wore the captain’s band for a while in the absence of Ishan Kishan, brought him back into the attack.
Shami removed Ravichandran Smaran, who had added 45 runs with Tilak. He set up the left-hander with a fuller delivery on the stumps before sending two deliveries that came into him.
The fourth delivery moved away, and Smaran edged it to wicketkeeper Kumar Kushagra. Sooryavanshi asked for a DRS review, and the TV umpire upheld the caught-behind decision.
South struggle to build partnerships
South Zone’s innings followed a similar pattern throughout the day, with partnerships ending just when they appeared to be growing.
After vice-captain Ricky Bhui edged Mukesh to Kushagra early on, Narayan Jagadeesan joined Padikkal and helped him add 60 runs for the second wicket.
Jagadeesan looked fluent and struck some attractive boundaries against the spinners. But his eagerness to drive eventually led to his dismissal.
Part-time spinner Shikhar Mohan was brought into the attack early after Anukul Roy suffered a finger injury. Mohan bowled one around the sixth-stump line, and Jagadeesan tried to hit another boundary.
His uppish shot, however, went straight to Abhimanyu Easwaran at cover.
Tilak and Shreyas Gopal, the last recognised South Zone batting pair, then survived for 26.4 overs during the final couple of hours.
The pair added 66 runs, but South Zone still face a massive challenge.
Tilak brought up his third successive 50-plus score in the competition in 143 balls. He will now have the difficult task of helping South avoid the follow-on mark and keep their hopes alive.
