Maharashtra's Gugale, Bawne script highest partnership in Ranji history

Mumbai, Oct 14 (IANS) Maharashtra batsmen Swapnil Gugale and Ankit Bawne on Friday posted an unbroken 594-run stand for the third wicket to record the highest partnership in the history of the Ranji Trophy.

Riding on the duo's superb performance with the bat, hosts Maharashtra declared their first innings at 635/2 with seven overs' play left on the second day of their contest against Delhi at the Wankhede Stadium here.

In reply, Delhi scored 21 in five overs without losing a wicket in their first innings, still trailing the hosts by 614 runs with two days of play left.

In the process, the duo created a new record, that of highest partnership for any wicket in India's first-class cricket.

The previous record belonged to legends Vijay Hazare and Gul Mohammad, who engineered 577 runs for the fourth wicket for Baroda against Holkar back in the 1946/47 season.

It is also the second-highest association the history of the game, behind only the 624 that Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene added in a Test match against South Africa.

Before this, the 580 that Rafatullah Mohmand and Aamer Sajjad added for WAPDA against Sui Southern Gas Corporation in Pakistan's domestic cricket was the second highest.

The previous highest stand for the third wicket was by Sagar Jogiyani and Ravindra Jadeja. The Saurashtra duo had posted 539 runs against Gujarat during the 2012/13 season.

Gugale, 25, remained not out on 351 off 521 balls, while the 23-year-old Bawne took 500 balls to score his 258 runs.

The Gugale-Bawne stand is also the fourth 500 plus stand ever posted in a Ranji Trophy match. Cheteshwar Pujara and Jadeja posted an unbroken 520-run stand against Orissa in 2008-09 season.

The new format for the current Ranji season includes matches played an neutral venues around the country.

--IANS

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