HOSTS AG, Nagpur will lock horns with AG Raipur in the final of the Indian Audit and Accounts Department (IA&AD) West Zone Cricket Tournament, being conducted under the aegis of Accountant General Recreation Club (AGRC) of the Office of The Accountant General (A&E) II, Maharashtra.

In the semi-finals, AG Nagpur rode on opener R Sanjay’s fine knock to beat Raipur by eight wickets.

In the other semi-final, AG Rajkot defeated defending champions AG Jaipur by six wickets.

The final is slated for Friday at VCA Stadium, Civil Lines.

In the first semi-final, R Sanjay, a Vidarbha Ranji Trophy regular, hit a 55-ball 96 studded with nine sixes and four boundaries while Aditya Sarvate hit a patient half-century (50;41b, 6x4) to guide their side home in 16.4 overs after Raipur had set a target of 168. Sanjay and Sarvate posted a 116 runs opening wicket partnership. Put into bat, Raipur scored 167-7 in 20 overs, thanks to a brilliant century by Rishab Tiwari (104; 58b, 11x4, 5x6).

Sarvate and Akshay Wadkar took two wickets each while Lalit Yadav and Amit Deshpande took a wicket apiece for the hosts. R Thiruppathi Venkatasamy, Accountant General (Audit), Maharashtra, Nagpur gave away the man of the match award to Sanjay.

In the second semis, AG Jaipur scored 192 for seven wickets. Ankit Lamba played a fine innings scoring 60 while Shauqat Almas scored 47. Subham Sharma added a 15-ball 42. For Rajkot, Shaurya Sanadiya took four wickets while Kuldeep Raval, Kuldeep Sharma and Arpit Vasadava took a wicket apiece. Chasing the target, Rajkot scored the required runs losing four wickets. Arpit Vasavda made 70 runs. He was ably supported by Kuldeep Raval 40 (23), Shaurya Sanadiya 24 (16) and Rahul Dave 18 (22). Dinesh Mate, Senior Deputy Accountant General gave away the man of match award to Shaurya Sanadia,

Dr Chhering Dorje, IPS, Special Inspector General of Police, Nagpur Range will be the chief guest of the final.

Prashant Vaidya, former India pacer, R Thiruppathi Venkatasamy, Accountant General (Audit)-II, Maharashtra, Nagpur will be the guests.