Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Rajasthan edge a step closer to qualification after thumping Tripura

Rajasthan took a massive step towards qualifying for the Super League phase of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as they thrashed Tripura by 9 wickets.

Rajasthan won the toss and elected to field first in a game that had been reduced to a 16-overs-a-side contest. Indian fast bowling duo, Deepak Chahar and Khaleel Ahmed made early inroads as the pair accounted for the openers in the first couple of overs.

Thereafter, Tripura never really threatened Rajasthan as the latter kept pushing and probing, before eventually dismissing the batsmen. Joydeep Bainik and Milind Kumar top scored for Tripura with 22 apiece as they stumbled to 69-7 in 16 overs.

Follow Sportskeeda for more Cricket news.

Aniket Choudhary came up trumps in the clutch encounter to return with commendable figures of 3-0-15-3 whereas Rahul Chahar also bagged two wickets.

With a meagre total to chase, Rajasthan were jolted early as Rajesh Bishnoi perished on the first ball of the innings. However, Mahipal Lomror ensured that there were no other hiccups as he conjured a blistering half-century off 18 balls, thereby enabling Rajasthan to hunt down the target in 5 overs.

The enormous margin of victory also meant that they leapfrogged Vidarbha in the Group B table, courtesy a superior Net Run Rate. Thus, Rajasthan seem primed to participate in the Super League phase, with the only threat to their qualification coming from Kerala and Uttar Pradesh, in light of the clash between the duo.

Both sides would need a humongous victory to better Rajasthan’s NRR, which currently stands at 1.938, as opposed to Kerala and UP’s quotient, which is 0.525 and -0.553 respectively.