The Rajasthan cricket team suffered a six-wicket defeat against Andhra in the seventh round of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 Elite Group B at the Dr PVG Raju ACA Sports Complex in Vizianagaram on Saturday.

After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Rajasthan posted 258 in their first innings before being bundled out on the opening day. Abhijeet Tomar was their top-scorer with 94 while Manav Suthar made 54.

In reply, Rajasthan’s bowlers came to the fore on the second day with Khaleel Ahmed getting the breakthrough. He opened the floodgates for inspired spells of bowling from his teammates as Manav Suthar, Aniket Choudhary and Arafat Khan, all chipping in.

Manav Suthar was their best bowler in the first innings and finished with figures of 4/65 as Rajasthan dismissed Andhra for 220 to take a 38-run lead into their second innings.

In the second innings, Andhra fought their way back into the contest led by bowlers Tripurana Vijay and Prithvi Raj.

Tripurana Vijay finished with figures of 5/22 and Prithvi Raj registered figures of 4/47 as Andhra bundled out the Rajasthan cricket team for a mere 114 to give their batters a target of 153 to chase.

Although Khaleel Ahmed did get an early breakthrough during Andhra’s run chase, Rajasthan couldn’t quite prevent a six-wicket defeat as the hosts reached the target comfortably in 39.4 overs.

The loss in their last Ranji Trophy 2024-25 Elite Group B match puts Rajasthan in fifth spot in the standings having scored 16 points in seven games. They have failed to progress to the knockout stage.

Rajasthan vs Andhra Ranji Trophy brief scores: Rajasthan 258 (Abhijeet Tomar 94; Manav Suthar 4/65) and 114 (Abhijeet Tomar 31; Khaleel Ahmed 2/45) lost to Andhra 220 (Srikar Bharat 52; Tripurana Vijay 5/62) and 157/4 (Ricky Bhui 62; Tripurana Vijay 5/22).