Railways scored a comprehensive seven-wicket victory over Karnataka in a Ranji Trophy Elite Group A encounter in Bangalore on Monday.
The visitors reached the victory target of 137 without difficulty at the IAF ground on the final day.
Earlier, Sanjay Bangar-led Railways, who had a 105-run first innings lead, dismissed the hosts for 241 in their second knock. J P Yadav and Kulamani Parida claimed three wickets each.
Yadav put in a good batting performance as well, remaining not out on 52. Opener Amit Pagnis hit 41 while Bangar made 27.
In a close contest to decide the second team from the pool to gain a berth for the last four, Railways, pipped Gujarat and Delhi by virtue of scoring more outright wins after the three teams ended level on 12 points.
Railways gathered steam at the right stage of the competition by scoring outright wins in their last two matches against Andhra and Karnataka, while Delhi and Gujarat failed to add to their sole outright win over the same group rival -- Bengal.
Railways thus earned the right to meet Group B champions Hyderabad (17 points) in the semi-finals.
Scorecard
Karnataka 1st innings: 194
Railways 1st innings: 299
Karnataka 2nd innings (181 for six overnight):
Robin Uthappa b J P Yadav 25
Barrington Rowland c Siddarth Varma b Bangar 0
Sujith Somasundar c Siddarth Joshi b J P Yadav 58
Rahul Dravid lbw K Parida 38
Sudhindra P Shinde b K Parida 19
V S Thilak Naidu lbw K Parida 17
Sunil B Joshi lbw Siddarth Varma 19
D Ganesh c Siddarth Varma b Madan Yadav 29
R Vinay Kumar c Sanjay Bangar b Madan Yadav 1
C Raghavendra c K Parida b J P Yadav 0
N C Aiyappa not out 7
Extras: (b18, lb8, nb1, w1) 28
Total: (all out in 95.2 overs) 241
Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-29, 3-123, 4-129, 5-159, 6-170, 7-219, 8-227, 9-234.
Bowling: Harvinder Singh 15-9-23-0; Sanjay Bangar 16-6-29-1; J P Yadav 16.2-8-24-3; K Parida 28-4-84-3; Madan Yadav 17-4-54-2; Siddarth Varma 3-2-1-1.
Railways 2nd innings:
Amit Pagnis c V S Thilak Naidu b Raghavendra 41
Sanjay Bangar c Uthappa b Ganesh 27
J P Yadav not out 52
Siddarth Joshi b Raghavendra 0
Raja Ali not out 9
Extras: (b4, lb1, nb3) 8
Total: (for 3 wkts, in 24.4 overs) 137
Fall of wickets: 1-47, 2-127, 3-127.
Bowling: D Ganesh 7-0-27-1; R Vinay Kumar 2-0-17-0; N C Aiyappa 5-0-33-0; Sunil B Joshi 8-0-37-0; C Raghavendra 2.4-0-18-2.
