Stats: Highest opening partnerships in ODI cricket

Pakistan have continued to pepper the hapless Zimbabwe bowling attack in the ongoing ODI series. The fourth game is currently in progress and their openers Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq made most of the ordinary challenges and flat wicket. They stitched together a three-hundred run partnership to break the long-standing record for the first wicket in the history of the limited-overs format. Fakhar and Imam added 304 runs for the first wicket as records galore at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.

They were in trouble whatsoever and made a mockery of the bowlers who lacked intent and plan. Fakhar has been batting superbly on this tour and raised his game a notch higher to pile on the agony for the home side. His partner Imam was also fluent in his approach and played second fiddle in the stand. Both the batsmen got to their respective tons and crossed the 286-run mark to create a world record for opening partnerships in ODIs.

They broke the long-standing record held by Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga who had scored 286 runs together at Leeds against England while chasing way back in 2006. It was also the first time that an opening partnership went past 300 runs in ODIs. Just when everybody felt that both will play out all the 50 overs, Imam was dismissed by Wellington Masakadza in the 42nd over. He scored 113 runs while his partner continued to play his shots and approached a magical score of 200.

Fakhar also went on to become the highest individual run-scorer in ODI cricket for Pakistan. He scored a double hundred, which is the first ever by a Pakistani cricketer and overall the eight in the format.

Who are the others in the list?

The list features some of the fiercest batters and partners we’ve seen in ODI cricket. After Fakhar and Imam, the second-best stand is worth 286 between the dangerous Sri Lankan pair of Sanath Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga. Following them is another recent achiever – dashing Australian openers Travis Head and David Warner.

The legendary Indian duo of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly occupy two spots on the list – their partnership worth 258 against Kenya from 2001 and 252 against Sri Lanka in Colombo, 1998 are to date among the top 10 highest opening partnerships in ODI cricket.

Here are the highest opening partnerships in ODI cricket: