JOIN USResuming at 254 for eight, South were all out for 295, conceding a 38-run lead but Ashwin changed the complexion of the game after that.
He ran through the middle-order of Central in their second essay and all Central Zone could manage was 252, setting South a 291-run victory target. South were 57 for one at stumps on the penultimate day.
Earlier, South added 39 runs to their overnight total with the last-wicket pair of Abhimanyu Mithun (20) and Shadab Jakati (16 n.o.) contributing a vital 37 runs.
R Vinay Kumar gave a splendid start to South as he removed Jalaj Saxena (3) and Sanjay Bangar (2) inside first five overs.
Mithun accounted for rival skipper Mohd Kaif (14) a few overs later and it was all Ashwin after that.
SCORE BOARD
CENTRAL ZONE (I Innings): 333 all out
SOUTH ZONE (I Innings, O/n: 254/8): Robin Uthappa c Kaif b Praveen 19, Abhinav Mukund c Ojha b Praveen 13, KB Arun Karthik c Ojha b Praven 8, S Badrinath c Chawla b Praveen 9, Manish Pandey lbw b Pankaj Singh 15, Gautam CM lbw RP Singh 52, R Ashwin lbw RP Singh 58, C Ganapathy c Ojha b Praven 33, R Vinay Kumar b RP Singh 48, Shadab Jakati (not out) 16, Abhimanyu Mithun b Chawla 20. Extras: ( LB-2, W-2) 4. Total: (all out, 79.2 overs) 295.
Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-37, 3-46, 4-61, 5-65, 6-173, 7-176, 8-253, 9-258.
Bowling: Praveen Kumar 20-6-82-5, RP Singh 21-5-65-3, Pankaj Singh 16-2-48-1, SB Bangar 10-1-44-0, PP Chawla 9.2-0-45-1, Jalaj S Saxena 3-0-9-0.
CENTRAL ZONE (II Innings): Tanmay Srivastava c & b Ashwin 29, Jalaj Saxena b Vinay Kumar 3, Sanjay Bangar c Gautam b Vinay Kumar 2, Mohammad Kaif c Ashwin b Mithun 14, Suresh Raina st Gautam b Ashwin 59, Parvinder Singh lbw Ashwin 19, Naman Ojha b Ashwin 1, Piyush Chawla b Ashwin 56, Praveen Kumar c Ganapathy b Ashwin 40, RP Singh lbw Mithun 21, Pankaj Singh (not out) 1. Extras (B-4, LB-1, W-1, NB-1) 7. Total (all out; 59.2 overs) 252.
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-8, 3-39, 4-87, 5-130, 6-131, 7-150, 8-212, 9-243.
Bowling: R Vinay Kumar 13-1-50-2, Abhimanyu Mithun 14.2-3-54-2, C Ganapathy 8-1-41-0, Robin Uthappa 3-0-21-0, R Ashwin 19-6-67-6, Shadab Jakati 2-0-14-0.
SOUTH ZONE (II Innings): Robin Uthappa c Raina b RP Singh 13, Abhinav Mukund (batting) 11, AB Karthik (batting) 33. Extras: 0. Total (for 1 wkt, 17 overs) 57.
Fall of wicket: 1-14.
Bowling: Praveen Kumar 6-3-17-0, RP Singh 5-0-28-1, Pankaj Singh 5-1-12-0, Sanjay Bangar 1-1-0-0.