Historic moment in Ranji: Deshpande-Kotian hits tons batting at no. 10 & 11

Tushar Deshpande and Tanush Kotian became the first batters since 1946 to hit centuries while batting at number 10 and 11 positions in cricket. Deshpande and Kotian's historic feat also allowed Mumbai to qualify for the semifinal of the Ranji Trophy on the first innings lead against Baroda.

Kotian remained unbeaten on 120 from 129 balls with ten fours and four sixes, while Deshpande fell for 123 from 129 balls with ten fours and eight sixes, putting on a staggering 232 runs for the 10th wicket.

While speaking to news agency PTI, Kotian said that he and Tushar wanted to bat too the drinks break of the first session at least and also wanted to capitalise on every loose delivery. 
 

When was the last time batters at number 10 and 11 scored centuries in cricket?

Representing the touring Indians against Surrey at The Oval 78 years ago, the duo of CT Sarwate (124*) and SN Banerjee (121) first achieved the incredible feat while putting on 249 runs for the 10th wicket as Nos 10 and 11 batters.

Does the Deshpande-Kotian 232 runs partnership also break the Ranji Trophy record for 10th wicket?

However, Kotian and Deshpande fell just one run short of equalling the record for highest partnership for the 10th wicket in Ranji Trophy history, held by Ajay Sharma and Maninder Singh.

Highest tenth-wicket partnerships in first-class cricket
Runs	Pair	For	Opponent	Series
307	AF Kippax (260*) & JEH Hooker (62)	NSW Victoria	Victoria	1928-29
249	CT Sarwate (124*) & SN Banerjee (121)	Indians	Surrey	1946
239	Aqeel Arshad (105) & Ali Raza (126*)	Lahore	Hyderabad	2004-05
235	FE Woolley (185) & A Fielder (112*)	Kent	Worcestershire	1909
233	AK Sharma (259*) & Maninder Singh (78)	Delhi	Bombay	1991-92
232	TK Kotian (120*) & TU Deshpande (123)	Bombay	Baroda	2023-24

How did the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match between Mumbai and Baroda pan out?

A thrilling final day was on cards when Mumbai resumed play at 379 for nine with Kotian unbeaten on 32 and Deshpande batting on 23.

Having come together in the middle with Mumbai leading by 373 overall, the pair went about its job with ease to pile up further misery on the Baroda side.

Kotian and Deshpande recorded their maiden first-class hundreds while adding 232 runs for the last wicket, which came off only 240 balls.

The pair collectively hammered 12 sixes during their partnership which helped Mumbai out-bat Baroda from the contest.

Ranji Trophy 2023-24: Mumbai vs Baroda quarterfinal

Mumbai 1st Innings
BATTING	Dismissals	R	B	4s	6s	SR
Prithvi Shaw	st †Patel b Bhatt	33	46	6	0	71.73
Bhupen Lalwani	c Sharma b Bhatt	19	41	3	0	46.34
Musheer Khan	not out	203	357	18	0	56.86
Ajinkya Rahane (c)	b Bhatt	3	13	0	0	23.07
Shams Mulani	lbw b Rathva	6	19	0	0	31.57
Suryansh Shedge	b Bhatt	20	42	2	0	47.61
Hardik Tamore †	c Jyotsnil Singh b Rathva	57	248	3	0	22.98
Shardul Thakur	c Rathva b Bhatt	17	51	2	0	33.33
Tanush Kotian	c Limbani b Bhatt	7	21	1	0	33.33
Mohit Avasthi	c Sharma b Rathva	2	4	0	0	50
Tushar Deshpande	c Rawat b Bhatt	0	2	0	0	0
Extras	(b 3, lb 13, w 1)	17
TOTAL	140.4 Ov (RR: 2.72)	384
BOWLING	O	M	R	W	ECON	WD
Lukman Meriwala	21	4	61	0	2.9	1
Raj Limbani	20	3	48	0	2.4	0
Bhargav Bhatt	42.4	5	112	7	2.62	0
Ninad Rathva	38	4	86	3	2.26	0
Mahesh Pithiya	17	4	50	0	2.94	0
Priyanshu Moliya	2	0	11	0	5.5	0
Baroda 1st Innings
BATTING	Dismissals	R	B	4s	6s	SR
Jyotsnil Singh	c Lalwani b Mulani	32	79	4	0	40.5
Priyanshu Moliya	b Thakur	1	6	0	0	16.66
Shashwat Rawat	c Shaw b Deshpande	124	194	15	0	63.91
Vishnu Solanki (c)	c †Tamore b Deshpande	136	291	14	0	46.73
Shivalik Sharma	c Kotian b Mulani	7	29	0	0	24.13
Mitesh Patel †	b Mulani	0	1	0	0	0
Ninad Rathva	c Rahane b Kotian	18	19	2	0	94.73
Mahesh Pithiya	lbw b Mulani	0	6	0	0	0
Raj Limbani	c Rahane b Musheer Khan	15	33	2	0	45.45
Bhargav Bhatt	c Suryansh Shedge b Kotian	0	5	0	0	0
Lukman Meriwala	not out	0	2	0	0	0
Extras	(b 3, lb 9, nb 2, w 1)	15
TOTAL	110.3 Ov (RR: 3.14)	348
BOWLING	O	M	R	W	ECON	WD
Mohit Avasthi	8	0	45	0	5.62	0
Shardul Thakur	15	1	48	1	3.2	0
Tushar Deshpande	18	2	52	2	2.88	1
Shams Mulani	38	3	121	4	3.18	0
Tanush Kotian	19.3	2	49	2	2.51	0
Musheer Khan	12	4	21	1	1.75	0
Mumbai 2nd Innings
BATTING	Dismissals	R	B	4s	6s	SR
Hardik Tamore †	lbw b Pithiya	114	233	10	0	48.92
Bhupen Lalwani	c Rathva b Bhatt	6	24	0	0	25
Mohit Avasthi	lbw b Bhatt	4	18	0	0	22.22
Musheer Khan	lbw b Bhatt	33	25	5	0	132
Prithvi Shaw	c Solanki b Bhatt	87	93	10	2	93.54
Ajinkya Rahane (c)	b Bhatt	0	4	0	0	0
Shams Mulani	c Moliya b Bhatt	54	103	8	1	52.42
Suryansh Shedge	lbw b Bhatt	10	24	0	1	41.66
Shardul Thakur	c Rathva b Limbani	10	10	0	1	100
Tanush Kotian	not out	120	129	10	4	93.02
Tushar Deshpande	c Meriwala b Rathva	123	129	10	8	95.34
Extras	(lb 4, w 4)	8
TOTAL	132 Ov (RR: 4.31)	569
BOWLING	O	M	R	W	ECON	WD
Lukman Meriwala	14	1	55	0	3.92	2
Bhargav Bhatt	52	7	200	7	3.84	0
Raj Limbani	13	1	71	1	5.46	2
Ninad Rathva	19	3	83	1	4.36	0
Mahesh Pithiya	29	0	131	1	4.51	0
Jyotsnil Singh	3	0	8	0	2.66	0
Shivalik Sharma	2	0	17	0	8.5	0
Baroda 2nd Innings (T: 606 runs)
BATTING	Dismissals	R	B	4s	6s	SR
Jyotsnil Singh	c Mulani b Avasthi	24	16	5	0	150
Priyanshu Moliya	b Kotian	54	89	6	1	60.67
Shashwat Rawat	lbw b Kotian	32	37	5	0	86.48
Vishnu Solanki (c)	not out	6	25	0	0	24
Shivalik Sharma	not out	4	13	0	0	30.76
Extras	(lb 1)	1
TOTAL	30 Ov (RR: 4.03)	121/3
BOWLING	O	M	R	W	ECON	WD
Mohit Avasthi	7	0	46	1	6.57	0
Shardul Thakur	4	0	13	0	3.25	0
Tushar Deshpande	5	0	14	0	2.8	0
Shams Mulani	6	0	30	0	5	0
Tanush Kotian	6	0	16	2	2.66	0
Musheer Khan	2	1	1	0	0.5	0

With PTI inputs