Nagpur, Mar 30: In a thrilling semifinal match, AG J&K defeated the star-studded AG Rajasthan by a narrow margin of four runs to secure a berth in the Indian Audit & Accounts Department Inter-Zonal Cricket Tournament finals. The match was held at the Civil Lines VCA Cricket Stadium in Nagpur on Thursday, and AG J&K will now face AG West Bengal in the title clash on Friday.
After winning the toss and electing to bat first, AG J&K posted a solid total of 184 runs in the allotted 20 overs, losing seven wickets in the process. Aditya Pratap Singh, Paras Sharma, and skipper Ramdayal played excellent innings, with Singh scoring a magnificent half-century, smashing 65 runs off just 32 balls. Sharma contributed 45 runs off 33 deliveries, while Ramdayal scored an unbeaten 27 off 12 balls. Abid Mushtaq and Bandeep Singh also made valuable contributions of 16 and 14 runs, respectively. Rituraj Singh and Ankit Lamba took three wickets each for AG Rajasthan, while Mohit Singh claimed one.
In response, AG Rajasthan put up a tough fight but fell just short of their target, scoring 180/9 in 20 overs. Mohendra Singh top-scored with 66 off 32 balls, hitting five fours and sixes each, while Ankit Lamba smashed a quickfire 27 off eight balls. Arijit Gupta and Shubham Sharma contributed 21 and 19 runs to the total, respectively. Abid Mushtaq and Ramdayal took three wickets each for AG J&K, while Rahil Singh, Waseem Raza, and Bandeep Singh claimed one wicket each. Ramdayal was awarded the man of the match for his superb all-round performance.
The AG J&K team is being coached by former first-class cricketer Ashwani Gupta, and former Ranji Trophy player Anoop Mangotra is the manager.
