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Inverness Caledonian Thistle advanced to the semi-finals of the Scottish Communities League Cup for the first time with an ultimately comfortable defeat of Rangers.

Former Rangers striker Andrew Shinnie put ICT ahead with a composed finish during an even first half.

The visitors dominated the second period and grabbed an easy second through Gary Warren's header.

Graeme Shinnie completed the scoring from the penalty spot.

The scoreline was not a flattering one as Caley Thistle seldom allowed Rangers to dominate the match as they had against Motherwell in the previous round.

The visitors were clinical in attack and solid in defence, Rangers were neither, though they started brightly enough.

It was Neil Alexander, though, who twice had to save to keep the scoreline blank in the early stages.

First, he pushed away a viciously swerving drive from Aaron Doran before a more comfortable near-post take from the unmarked Billy McKay following poor defensive play by Rangers.

Indeed, almost 15 minutes had passed before Antonio Reguero was called upon to make a save - a fairly easy one to keep out Lewis McLeod's low effort.

The Spaniard had to dash off his line just moments later as a slick Rangers move ended with Andrew Little getting a shot in on goal, only to see the keeper block with his legs.

Rangers had begun to put together a couple of pretty promising attacks, but they fell behind on 27 minutes when Doran managed to poke the ball between two static defenders, allowing Shinnie to slide the ball past Alexander and into the net.

It took Ally McCoist's side until three minutes before half-time to mount anything resembling a response and when it did come - in the shape of a Chris Hegarty header - it landed on the roof of the net.

They carved out a better chance eight minutes after the interval.

Little got to the bye-line on the right before finding McCulloch with the cutback, but the captain's tame effort was well off-target.

The home fans howled for a red card to be shown to David Raven three minutes later as, having already been booked, he brought Dean Shiels to ground, but the referee Steven McLean settled for a word in the defender's ear.

Moments later, Raven won the corner from which Caley Thistle doubled their lead, though Rangers' defending again left plenty to be desired.

Graeme Shinnie swung the ball in from the right and Warren was allowed to head past Alexander unchallenged.

Terry Butcher's men should have been out of sight with a quarter of the game still to go. Hegarty was woefully short with a passback, but McKay spurned the unexpected opportunity, shooting straight at the goalkeeper.

Alexander was again on hand to keep Caley Thistle out on 71 minutes when Andrew Shinnie threaded a pass to McKay, but the striker once more found his way to goal blocked.

But the third goal did arrive when Rangers' half-time substitute Anestis Argyriou was adjudged to have barged Andrew Shinnie - who was going nowhere inside the penalty area - and Graeme Shinnie sent Alexander the wrong way from the spot.

Rangers were a well-beaten side by this stage, posing virtually no threat to Reguero and his defence.

They did find a way through with five minutes left as McLeod slipped in Barrie McKay, but the young substitute's goalbound shot was excellently stopped by the keeper.

Caley Thistle's advance to the semi-final was a deserved one, while Rangers must now aim to keep their cup hopes alive on Saturday when Alloa visit in the Scottish Cup.

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