Goa’s Kauthankar, Bakle set record for highest-ever partnership in Ranji history

A file image of Snehal Kauthankar
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

The duo of Snehal Kauthankar and Kashyap Bakle scored triple centuries and recorded the highest partnership in Ranji Trophy’s history, adding 606 runs to help their team hammer Arunachal Pradesh by innings and 551 runs in their plate group match here on Thursday (November 14, 2024).

While Kauthankar smashed 314 off 215 balls, Bakle blazed away to 300 off just 269 balls to propel Goa to a mammoth 727 for 2 declared in only 92 overs and gain a 643-run first-innings lead.

Goa then dismissed Arunachal Pradesh for 92 in 22.3 overs to complete the massive win. The visitors had folded for 84 in the first innings.

During their sensational partnership, Kauthankar and Bakle broke rewrote many records.

Their unbeaten partnership surpassed the 594-run stand for the third wicket between Maharashtra duo of SM Gugale and AR Bawne against Delhi at Wankhade Stadium in 2016.

This was only the second instance of two batters recording triple tons in the same innings a Ranji Trophy match. Tamil Nadu’s W.V. Raman and Arjun Kripal Singh had struck 313 and 302 runs, respectively, against Goa in 1989.

The 606-run stand is just behind the 624-run alliance between Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene in a Test against South Africa in 2006.

Goa’s first-innings total of 727 is the second-highest score in the plate division, sitting only below Meghalaya’s 826 for seven against Sikkim in 2018. Across Ranji Trophy, this is the ninth-highest total.

Kauthankar belted 43 boundaries and four maximums during his innings as he took just 205 balls to reach the coveted landmark.

Thanks to his whirlwind innings, Kauthankar is now placed at the third spot in the all-time list of fastest First-Class triple hundreds, behind Hyderabad’s Tanmay Agarwal and South Africa’s Marco Marais.

During his innings, the 29-year-old also recorded the fourth-fastest double-century in Ranji Trophy history, reaching 200 in just 146 balls.

Bakle’s knock was studded with 39 fours and two sixes.