Tanush Kotian and Tushar Deshpande became the second pair of number 10 and 11 batsmen in first-class history to score centuries in the same innings on the final day at the MCA-BKC ground.
On a day focused on Mumbai securing a Ranji Trophy semi-final spot, their number 10 and 11 batsmen made history by both hitting centuries, adding insult to injury for Baroda.
Tanush Kotian and Tushar Deshpande became only the second pair of numbers 10 and 11 batsmen in First-Class history to record tons in the same innings. Their partnership of 232 for the 10th wicket fell just one run short of being the biggest stand for the last wicket in the Ranji Trophy.
Mumbai began the day at 379 for 9 with Kotian and Deshpande on 32 and 23 respectively. Baroda, who was already almost out of the game, trailing by 415, would have hoped to bat soon, but that didn’t happen. The last pair played sensibly by respecting the good deliveries and punishing the bad ones.
Kotian later explained that he was discussing with Deshpande, who started his career as a batsman, the selection of bowlers they could target.
Deshpande stated that they did not consider the records they could break while playing. The pair only became aware of their progress towards the record of the biggest 10th-wicket partnership later in the innings. They focused on playing ball by ball, taking advantage of the helpful batting pitch. Deshpande's father has always encouraged him to become an all-rounder, and Deshpande believes that with the right application and technique, he can score runs with a straight bat.
Kotian and Deshpande took Mumbai's second-innings total to 569, giving Baroda a notional target of 605 to chase in two sessions. The game ended in a draw with Baroda reaching 121 for 3. Mumbai will now face Tamil Nadu in the semi-finals later this week.
Kotian was relieved to finally reach the century mark after twice falling short in the 90s.
Kotian reached his century off 115 balls. He finished unbeaten on 120. His innings included 10 fours and four sixes, while Deshpande scored 123 off 129 balls before being caught in the deep. His innings featured 10 fours and eight sixes.
Brief Scores: Mumbai scored 384 and 569 (with Tanush Kotian scoring 120 not out and Tushar Deshpande scoring 123; Bhargav Bhatt took 7 wickets for 200 runs) and drew with Baroda, who scored 348 and were 121 for 3 (with P Moliya scoring 54).