Karnataka's India hopefuls decimate Railways by 136 runs

Karnataka reaffirmed their status as the giants of domestic cricket outclassing Railways by 136 runs to record their third successive outright victory in this year's Ranji Trophy Cricket Tournament.

Such has been the dominance of the Ranji champions that they are now on 18 points from three games with Jammu and Kashmir, a distant second with nine points in their kitty.

Pacer Abhimanyu Mithun wreaked havoc with 5/31 as Karnataka dismissed Railways for 114 in 43 overs, chasing a tricky target of 251 after the visitors declared on 174 for five.
For Mithun, the sporting declaration and going all-out for an outright win in adverse condition was a testimony to the fact that most of the Karnataka players aspire to wear the national colours.

With Delhi's foggy conditions robbing crucial match time, Karnataka batted only eight overs on the final morning before setting a target of 251 for the hosts on a seaming Karnail Singh Stadium track.

"All the players are willing to play for India. Individually, they want to perform for themselves but at the end of the day it is helping Karnataka. Bowlers come, take wickets and batsmen want to play big innings everytime they come out to bat," said Mithun, who himself has played 4 Tests and 5 ODIs for India.

"We are working on our individual role but we are also helping each other for success of the team," said the 25-year-old.

It was his devastating spell that helped Karnataka clean up Railways for 114 at the Karnail Singh Stadium.

The visitors took 43 overs to take ten wickets after declaring at 174 for five at lunch, setting Railways a 251-run target.

"After lunch, we had around 55 overs left. We took a chance and delivered. I am happy with my effort too. I was bowling really well from the one-dayers. So rhythm is there and I got the result here too," said Mithun, who was the leading wicket-taker in Vijay Hazare Trophy (one-day meet) that Karnataka defended last month.