ODI cricket, as we all know, is all about partnerships. And the longer the partnerships are, the higher the total a team can achieve.
While a good opening stand is something a team hopes for, the second wicket stand is also crucial for their eventual score. This is because most teams usually have their best batters in the top three, and the second wicket is where a team’s best two batters invariably play.
On that note, we’ll look at the top 10 highest second-wicket partnerships in ODI cricket history.
Highest 2nd Wicket Partnership in ODI
| Players | Runs | Against | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels (WI) | 372 | Zimbabwe | Canberra | 24 Feb 2015 |
| Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid (IND) | 331 | New Zealand | Hyderabad | 8 Nov 1999 |
| Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly (IND) | 318 | Sri Lanka | Taunton | 26 May 1999 |
| Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli (IND) | 290 | Bangladesh | Chattogram | 10 Dec 2022 |
| Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra (NZ) | 273* | England | Ahmedabad | 5 Oct 2023 |
| Aamer Sohail, Inzamam-ul-Haq (PAK) | 263 | New Zealand | Sharjah | 20 Apr 1994 |
| David Warner, Steve Smith (AUS) | 260 | Afghanistan | Perth | 4 Mar 2015 |
| Saleem Elahi, Abdul Razzaq (PAK) | 257 | South Africa | Gqeberha | 11 Dec 2002 |
| Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting (AUS) | 252* | England | Centurion | 2 Oct 2009 |
| Andrew Strauss, Jonathan Trott (ENG) | 250 | Bangladesh | Birmingham | 12 Jul 2010 |
Key Insights
Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels posted the highest partnership for the second wicket in ODI cricket. Their 372-run stand came in the 2015 World Cup group stage game against Zimbabwe. This is also the highest partnership for any wicket in 50-over cricket and the ODI World Cup.
Gayle contributed 215 runs off 147 balls in the 372-run stand, which is the second-highest individual score by a batter in the Cricket World Cup.
India’s Rahul Dravid is the only batter to have featured in two partnerships of 300 or more runs for the second wicket in ODIs.
The unbeaten 252-run stand between Shane Watson and Ricky Ponting against England in 2009 is the highest for the second wicket in the Champions Trophy.
Australia’s Ponting and India’s Rohit Sharma have been part of five 200-plus run stands, the most for a batter for the second wicket in ODIs.
Four of Sharma’s 200-plus run partnerships came with Virat Kohli, the most by a pair for the second wicket in ODIs.
Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara paired up for 19 century stands, the most by a batting duo for the second wicket in ODIs.
Kohli is the only batter to forge 10 century partnerships each for the second wicket with two different partners (Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan) in ODIs.
Dilshan and Sangakkara also aggregated 4730 runs in 86 innings, the most by a pair for the second wicket in ODIs.
South Africa’s Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers recorded the highest run rate in a 100-plus partnership for the second wicket in ODIs. The duo stitched a 192-run stand off 67 balls at a run rate of 17.19 against the West Indies in the 2015 Johannesburg game. This fiery partnership propelled South Africa to 439 for 2, their highest team total in ODIs.
De Villiers contributed 149 runs in the 192-run partnership while smashing the records for the fastest fifty and fastest century in ODIs.
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