Former Ranji champions Railways scored a 57-run win over Baroda in a crucial Elite Group A Ranji Trophy match at IPCL ground here to move into the knockout stage.
This is for the first time Railways entered the knockout stage after the introduction of new Ranji format two years ago.
It was off-spinner Shreyas Khanolkar who took the advantage of a turning wicket to claim five wickets conceding only 21 runs and played an important role to bundle out the hosts in their second essay.
Baroda were set a target of 240 runs for victory soon after Railways were all out for a paltry 103 runs in their second innings this morning after resuming at their overnight total of 84 for 8.
In reply, Baroda openers Rishikesh Parab and Satyajit Parab started batting sensibly before the former was trapped leg before by Harvinder Singh when the team's total was just 25 runs.
Connor Williams then joined Satyajit and together they added 31 runs for the second wicket before Satyajit was trapped leg-before by off-spinner Kulamani Parida.
Between lunch and tea, Baroda lost six more wickets, putting Railways in a commanding position. They lost the remaining two wickets soon after tea.
With this win Railways secured four points. Baroda, who finished with four points from seven matches, managed to retain their position in the Elite A group.
Railways Ist Innings: 353.
Baroda Ist Innings: 217.
Railways IInd Innings (Overnight 84 for 8):
S Khanolkar c S Parab b Joshi 5
A Pagnis lbw b Patel 4
T P Singh lbw b Joshi 15
S Verma lbw b Joshi 1
R Ali b Bhoite 37
Y Goud c Mongia b Buch 7
S Wankhede lbw Patel 9
H Singh c and b Bhoite 0
K Parida lbw b Buch 0
S Saxena not out 11
M Yadav st Mongia b Buch 4
Extras: (b 3, nb 7) 10
Total: (All out) 103
Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-14, 3-15, 4-37, 5-70, 6-82, 7-82, 8-83, 9-90.
Bowling: Rakesh Patel 10-3-32-2, Shekhar Joshi 8-1-24-3, Valmik Buch 11-3-27-3, Ajit Bhoite 8-1-17-2.
Baroda IInd Innings:
R Parab lbw b H Singh 12
S Parab lbw b Parida 33
C Williams b Parida 21
J Martin c Pagnis b Yadav 19
N Mongia st Wankhede b Yadav 6
T Arothe c Sahu b Khanolkar 33
A Bhoite b Khanolkar 18
R Patel c Verma b Khanolkar 4
S Gaekwad b Khanolkar 0
V Buch not out 8
S Joshi st Wankhede b Khanolkar 5
Extras: (b 9, lb 13, nb 1) 23
Total: (all out) 182
Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-56, 3-87, 4-96, 5-101, 6-140, 7-142, 8-146, 9-175.
Bowling: Harvinder Singh 9-0-36-1, Santosh Saxena 9-2-26-0, Kulmani Parida 19-9-25-2, Madan Yadav 23-6-52-2, Shreyas Khanolkar 10.4-2-21-5.
