Goa Batters Set Historic Partnership with Triple Centuries, Miss World Record by Narrow Margin

In a thrilling turn of events, the batting duo of Snehal Kauthankar and Kashyap Bakle from Goa cricket team set a historic record by forming a 606-run partnership, narrowly missing the world record for the highest first-class partnership in cricket history.
The extraordinary display of cricketing skill came at the Goa Cricket Association Academy in Porvorim, where Goa was involved in a match against Arunachal Pradesh in the 2024 Ranji Trophy. New Delhi [time of writing] has witnessed an opening day that will be remembered for its sheer magnitude as Kauthankar and Bakle's partnership made the first-class ground go berserk.
Their remarkable effort of playing out 269 balls each, propelled Goa to a score of 330 runs, while Arunachal Pradesh could only scrape through 84 runs. The visiting team was dealt a crushing blow when they lost three wickets in quick succession. Their batting line-up seemed crumbling under the pressure of Arjun Tendulkar's exceptional bowling display.
Tendulkar, who scored 5 invaluable wickets for just 25 runs on his debut day, entered into a list of exclusive players who have both scored a century and taken a five-wicket haul in Ranji Trophy cricket. In return, the batting show was provided by a partnership between Snehal Kauthankar and Kashyap Bakle.
Kauthark delivered a triple century (313 runs) while playing at a rate that is just behind what the record-holding Australians made possible with their 320 runs across the first three days of their match against Zimbabwe in 1996. His feat, however, came in the third-fastest innings for the format in history.
Bakle was the partner-in-crime alongside Kauthark and did not disappoint as he too scored a thrilling triple century (323 runs). His unbeaten knock has earned him a place among the ninth-fastest trio of cricketers to achieve this extraordinary feat.
What made their partnership all the more spectacular is that they broke a new benchmark – by far setting a record for the best third-wicket stand in a first-class match. When the duo came together, there was no looking back as their efforts went beyond what could have been reasonably expected from a cricketing pair and pushed them to break through with unparalleled consistency.
Tragically however, they missed out on history just by 19 runs – falling short of a world record partnership set jointly by Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara against South Africa in February 2006. The duo had amassed an incredible total of 624 runs from facing 266 and 271 deliveries.
Bakle is now on top of the list having come as close as possible, making a huge impact with his record-breaking performance at Porvorim ground just hours ago.