Best Opening Partnerships in ODI cricket: List of the Top 5

In the game of cricket if a team wishes to score runs be it in the first or the second innings it needs its top order to fire. The opening pair is one of the most vital weapons a team possesses. If the openers go out all guns blazing, set u a good plat form the batsmen walking in next has a lot easier task at hand. That is why a good opening partnership is so important in ODI cricket.
The most attacking, solid and fearless players in the team are the two openers. That is the pair which dares the fast bowlers first up, when they are extremely fresh, roaring to go and with a new shining ball in their hands. They play in toughest of conditions and the best of the bowlers and it is their batting which on most occasions determine the score that the team might end up with. Here is the best of the opening partnerships in ODI cricket a list of the top 5 highest run stands.

5. Aaron Finch & Shaun Marsh 246 runs (Australia v Scotland 2013):

The pair of Shaun Marsh and Aaron Finch could be called the most attacking duo to have batted together for Cricket Australia. Finch and Marsh both are naturally aggressive players and it helped them bat well together. In the game versus Scotland in September, 2013, they batted exceptionally good and nailed together a partnership of 246 runs which also got them the 5^th place.

4. Saurav Ganguly & Sachin Tendulkar 258 runs (India v Kenya 2001):

Saurav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar’s is one of the best opening pair not only Indian cricket but international cricket as well. Sachin the legendary Indian batting master and Saurav his companion and skipper were a formidable pair. Together the two took Indian cricket to all new highs. A right hand-left hand batting combination is never easy to manage and that is when they were too hot to handle for Kenya. Where they made a partnership of 258 runs which is the 4^th highest in ODI cricket.

3. James Marshall & Brendon McCullum 274 runs (New Zealand v Ireland 2008):

James Marshall and Brendon McCullum opened the innings for New Zealand for a brief while and within that they scaled together this monstrous partnership. 274 runs the two managed to score against the Ireland at Aberdeen in 2008. Marshall who was not a full time opener, batted along the aggressive McCullum gave him enough support and they could hit the record 3^rd highest opening partnership in ODI cricket.

2. Upul Tharanga & Tillakaratne Dilshan 282 runs (Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe 2011):

Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan the standard opening partners for Sri Lanka got their names high up in the ODI records book with this 282 runs stand they shared together. The opponents were weak and the two capitalized it with maximum effect belting down 282 runs against Zimbabwe in 2011. This also got them placed in the 2^nd place for the highest ever opening partnership in ODI cricket.

1. Sanath Jayasuriya & Upul Tharanga 286 runs (Sri Lanka v England 2006):

Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga hold the record for the highest opening partnership in limited over’s cricket. The 286 runs partnership they formed against England in 2006 still sits them right at the top unchallenged for 9 years. The closest someone came to the record was another Sri Lankan pair in which only one half changed Jayasuriya was replaced by Dilshan while Tharanga is the common link between the both. At Leeds in England the Sri Lankan openers proved far too much for English bowlers to handle and were superior enough to set a new world record in that innings.

A table containing detailed statistics of the record follows: