Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Rahul Tripathi pulls off breathtaking one-handed relay catch at the boundary

Ever since the inception of the T20 cricket, the level of fielding even at the domestic level has been improved by leaps and bounds and the reasons are obvious. In a format where one team has only 120 balls to post a match-winning score or chase down whatever has been put up ahead of them, a single run is more than enough to change the entire outcome of the match. No surprises then that the players do all they can and sometimes even jump over the boundary ropes to save the runs.

Well, over the years one has seen quite a number of stunning relay catches near the boundary ropes but there are very few that have been as good as the one Rahul Tripathi executed. Rahul playing for his state team Maharashtra against Railways in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy pulled off a stunner. Railways batsman Manjeet Singh would have been very assured that his straight hit off Vishal Gite would easily cross the ropes.

Manjeet and the rest of the players on the field, however, were in for a major surprise. While the ball looked destined to cross the ropes, Tripathi had some other ideas. Tripathi kept his eyes on the ball till the last moment and caught it sensationally with one hand.

The momentum took him to the other side of the rope but the Rajasthan Royals star showed great presence of mind as before crossing the boundary he had jumped. And before his feet could land, he flicked the ball inside the field of play where his teammate caught the ball to complete a breathtaking catch.

Here is a clip of that catch from Rahul Tripathi:

Maharashtra crush Railways

Talking about the game, Maharashtra beat their opponents by 12 runs. Asked to bat first, Maharashtra finished their innings on a competitive 177 for 5. Nikhil Naik starred with the bat, scoring 95 while Naushad Shaikh scored 59. In reply, Railways kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and were eventually all out for 156.

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