Good partnerships win matches. Like life, it suits a winning cricket team too.
Well started is half done! Powerplays are very crucial in the T20s. There is no better sight for the batting team in the T20s than watching their openers stay long and go big together, and it keeps the pressure off from the batsmen who will walk in next. Here are the top ten powerplay scores in T20 WC history.
With only 20 overs for a batting unit to build on a concrete scoreboard, it is very important that they have a good start. Especially in a bigger event like the T20 World cup, where there will be high pressure on the air, the opening partnership is, without doubt, a key factor.
This article will list the highest opening partnerships in the T20 World Cup matches.
| THE PAIR | PARTNERSHIP | OPPOSITION | VENUE | YEAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jos Buttler - Alex Hales (ENG) | 170* | India | Adelaide | 2022 |
| Ibrahim Zadran - Rahmanullah Gurbaz (AFG) | 154 | Uganda | Providence | 2024 |
| Babar Azam - Mohammad Rizwan (PAK) | 152* | India | Dubai | 2021 |
| Chris Gayle - Dwayne Smith (WI) | 145 | South Africa | Johannesburg | 2007 |
| Kamran Akmal - Salman Butt (PAK) | 142 | Bangladesh | Gros Islet | 2010 |
| KL Rahul - Rohit Sharma (IND) | 140 | Afghanistan | Abu Dhabi | 2021 |
| Gautam Gambhir - Virender Sehwag (IND) | 136 | England | Durban | 2007 |
| Chris Gayle - Andre Fletcher (WI) | 133 | Australia | The Oval | 2009 |
| Shane Watson - David Warner (AUS) | 133 | India | Colombo | 2012 |
| Aqib Ilyas - Jatinder Singh (Oman) | 131* | PNG | Al Amerat | 2021 |
Stats Insights
The Rizwan-Babar partnership at the top is the second-highest partnership for any wicket in T20 World Cup. The legendary Sri Lankan pair, Mahela Jayawardene-Kumar Sangakkara scoring 166 runs together for the 2nd Wicket against West Indies in 2010, still tops the list of partnership runs in the tournament.
There are so far 18 100+ Opening partnerships in eight editions of Men’s T20 World Cup, with two pairs going ahead of 150 runs partnership.
Babar-Rizwan is the first opening pair to attain the 150 mark. This happened in their first-ever win against India in a World Cup match of any format, and this is also their first 10-wicket win in the format. The Pakistani pair, in total has 3 100+ opening partnerships in the tournament history.
Only two other opening pairs in the T20 World Cup has 2 100+ partnerships to their names:
- Shane Watson – David Warner – 133 vs India (2012) & 104 vs India (2010)
- Matthew Hayden – Adam Gilchrist – 104 vs Bangladesh (2007) & 102* vs Sri Lanka (2007)
Also Read: The Highest Individual Innings Scores in T20 World Cup
