The 3rd wicket partnership in ODIs more often decides the fate of the team’s batting outcome. This stand has to provide stability to the batting side when the team has lost early wickets, then stabilise the innings and prevent further collapses. If the team had a great start to their innings, then the 3rd wicket pair can further consolidate the innings, reaping on the solid foundation and accelerating the run rate in the later overs.

The main aspect of the batters playing in this position is that they need to know when to accelerate and when not and play according to the situation. They should have a strong game against spin and the ability to manoeuvre them in the middle overs.

So enough said, we will look at some of the successful stands for the 3rd wicket in ODI cricket.

Highest 3rd Wicket Partnership in ODI

PlayersRunsAgainstVenueDate
Darren Bravo, Denesh Ramdin (WI)258BangladeshBasseterre25 Aug 2014
Hashim Amla, Rilee Rossouw (SA)247West IndiesCenturion28 Jan 2015
Steve Smith, George Bailey (AUS)242IndiaPerth12 Jan 2016
Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis (SL)239West IndiesHambantota26 Feb 2020
Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers (SA)238PakistanJohannesburg17 Mar 2013
Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar (IND)237*KenyaBristol23 May 1999
Ricky Ponting, Damien Martyn (AUS)234*IndiaJohannesburg23 Mar 2003
Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (IND)233*PakistanColombo (RPS)10 Sep 2023
Josh Lawrenson, Asa Tribe (JER)232Papua New GuineaWindhoek1 Apr 2023
Saeed Anwar, Ijaz Ahmed (PAK)230IndiaDhaka18 Jan 1998

Key insights from the above stats

2: The number of times batters from India and South Africa feature on this list, while Johannesburg in South Africa also gets mentioned twice here.

258: The highest-ever partnership for the 3rd wicket in the history of ODI cricket came between the West Indies duo of Darren Bravo and former keeper batsman Denesh Ramdin. They did so against Bangladesh at Basseterre in 2014, and it came when the hosts were in a tough predicament. The Windies had lost both of their openers in under 5 overs for just 12 runs and needed some stability, which was provided by this duo. Ramdin scored his career-best 169, while Bravo chipped in with 124 as the Windies eventually amassed 338 runs on the board.

Also Read | Highest Partnership for Each Wicket in ODI Cricket

242: The third-highest partnership for the 3rd wicket came between Steve Smith and George Bailey, who together posted a massive 242 runs against India at Perth. The pair made these runs in just over 36 overs to enable a comfortable 5-wicket win for the Aussies in their pursuit of the 310 set by India.

2: The number of partnerships on this list that occurred during a World Cup game. One came in the 1999 Cricket World Cup, while the other came in the 2003 World Cup, both of which involved India.

237: The stand between the Indian legends Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid in a 1999 Cricket World Cup group stage game against Kenya at Bristol. India’s opener Ramesh gave a good start after losing his fellow opener Ganguly early on, and then it was the Rahul-Sachin show as they hammered hapless Kenyan bowlers across the park, taking the team total to 329/2. While Sachin smashed an unbeaten 101-ball 140, Dravid remained unscathed on 104.

234: This match we are talking about also involves India, but here the Indian bowlers were on the receiving side of the assault by the Australian duo of then-skipper Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn. And the occasion to make this splendid display was the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 final in Johannesburg. Ponting was the star of the show, scoring an unbeaten 140, while Martyn (88*) gave him great company as Australia piled up 359/2 on the big day. And eventually, Australia won the game rather easily.

239: The runs scored in the partnership between Sri Lankan batters Avishka Fernando and Kusal Mendis in an ODI at Hambantota against the West Indies. Coming in the back of losing 2 wickets early on, this pair gave the innings much-needed stability and then provided momentum for a strong Sri Lankan finish. Sri Lanka eventually made 345 batting first, and these batters both scored superlative tons each.

1: Hashim Amla is the only batter who finds a mention twice in the list, once with Rilee Rossouw and another with the champion batter, AB de Villiers.

247: This is the second-best-ever partnership for the 3rd wicket in ODI cricket, and it was between the South African duo Rossouw and Amla at the Centurion against the West Indies in 2015. Amla, the then Proteas skipper, scored his usual flawless century (133), and Rilee was at his punishing best, making a 98-ball 132, thus taking the South African total to 361/5.

238: The next partnership featuring Hashim Amla came in Johannesburg in 2013 against Pakistan. Batting first, South Africa lost 2 quick wickets, and the beginning was not too swift. Then the experienced pair of Amla and de Villiers took centre stage in Jo’burg as their 238-run stand came in just over 30 overs, giving a great platform for the South Africans to post 343 on the board. Both of these batters got out in their 120s, but not before making a match-winning contribution.

233: The other Indian players who find a place are the duo of KL Rahul and Virat Kohli, who stitched together the highest partnership in the Asia Cup match against Pakistan in Colombo in September 2023. The pair made an unbeaten 233 runs for the 3rd wicket, which helped India cruise to a mammoth total of 356 in the said game, and it was enough for the team to beat their arch-rivals by 228 runs. As in the above scenarios, the batters in question both scored centuries.

232: The ninth-highest 3rd wicket stand in ODI cricket is between Jersey batters Josh Lawrenson and Asa Tribe. They made 232 runs together in just more than run a ball to help the team pile up 291/4 against PNG earlier this year. It resulted in an 11-run win for their team.

230: This partnership between Ijaz and Saeed Anwar against India at Dhaka in 1998 makes it to the top-10 list of the highest-ever 3rd wicket partnerships. Anwar continued his love affair with India as he slammed yet another ODI ton (140), and giving him company was Ijaz Ahmed, who made 117 as the duo added 230 runs for the 3rd wicket in just under 34 overs. Though Pakistan managed to post a then-mighty 314, India chased it down with 2 overs to spare thanks to a splendid knock by their former skipper, Sourav Ganguly, who made 124.

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