Providing a strong start to build a huge total for a team is crucial in 50-over cricket. And stitching firm opening stands becomes even more important when the stakes are high in the ODI World Cup.
This makes the job of opening batters more tough, as teams expect them to build a strong foundation. However, some batters took matters into their own hands and provided their teams with brilliant starts.
In the 2011 Cricket World Cup, Sri Lanka’s Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan stormed the record books by building the highest partnership for 1st wicket in the tournament’s history. Both went on to form a solid partnership of 282 runs against Zimbabwe in Pallekele.
Now, let’s take a look at the top 10 highest-opening partnerships in the ODI World Cup.
| Players | Runs | Against | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL) | 282 | Zimbabwe | Pallekele | 10 Mar 2011 |
| David Warner, Mitchell Marsh (AUS) | 259 | Pakistan | Bengaluru | 20 Oct 2023 |
| Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan (SL) | 231* | England | Colombo (RPS) | 26 Mar 2011 |
| Wajahatullah Wasti, Saeed Anwar (PAK) | 194 | New Zealand | Manchester | 16 Jun 1999 |
| Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul (IND) | 189 | Sri Lanka | Leeds | 6 Jul 2019 |
| Gary Kirsten, Andrew Hudson (SA) | 186 | Netherlands | Rawalpindi | 5 Mar 1996 |
| Shane Watson, Brad Haddin (AUS) | 183 | Canada | Bengaluru | 16 Mar 2011 |
| Alan Turner, Rick McCosker (AUS) | 182 | Sri Lanka | The Oval | 11 Jun 1975 |
| Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul (IND) | 180 | Bangladesh | Birmingham | 2 Jul 2019 |
| Paul Stirling, William Porterfield (IRE) | 177 | Netherlands | Eden Gardens | 18 Mar 2011 |
200: The ODI World Cup has seen two 200+ opening stands. Notably, Tharanga and Dilshan are part of both of these partnerships. The first (282) came against Zimbabwe, while the other (231*) came in a match-winning chase as they defeated England by 10 wickets in Colombo.
Also Read | Most 10-Wickets Wins in ODI by Teams
2: Two Indian opening pairs — Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul — and South Africa’s openers, Gary Kirsten and Herschelle Gibbs, are the other opening pairs that share 2 partnerships of 140+ runs.
20: More than 20 opening partnerships of 150+ scores have been achieved in this pinnacle event.
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