One of the most important aspects for any team in cricket is their top-order batting, particularly the opening batsmen, who play a crucial role. The performance of the top two batters more or less sets the tone for the rest of the batting line-up.
If the start provided by the openers is good, it gives more often than not a sigh of relief to the entire team for the rest of their batting duration. And there have been instances of openers bossing a T20I innings with their huge partnerships.
In this article, we’ll look at the top 10 opening partnerships in T20I cricket.
Highest Opening Partnerships in T20I
| Pair | Team | Opening Partnership | Against | Venue | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake, Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming | Japan | 258* | China | Mong Kok | 2024 |
| Usman Ghani, Hazratullah Zazai | Afghanistan | 236 | Ireland | Dehradun | 2019 |
| D’Arcy Short, Aaron Finch | Australia | 223 | Zimbabwe | Harare | 2018 |
| Dylan Steyn, Sabawoon Davizi | Czech Rep. | 220 | Bulgaria | Marsa | 2022 |
| Avinash Pai, Louis Bruce | Gibraltar | 213* | Bulgaria | Marsa | 2022 |
| Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam | Pakistan | 203* | England | Karachi | 2022 |
| George Munsey, Kyle Coetzer | Scotland | 200 | Netherlands | Dublin (Malahide) | 2019 |
| Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam | Pakistan | 197 | South Africa | Centurion | 2021 |
| Alexander Dizija, Braithyn Pecic | Serbia | 197 | Slovenia | Belgrade | 2025 |
| Harrison Carlyon, Nick Greenwood | Jersey | 172* | Bulgaria | Marsa | 2021 |
Key Insights
Japan’s Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake and Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming have recorded the highest opening partnership in T20I cricket. They put up an unbeaten 258-run stand for the first wicket against China in 2024. This is also the highest partnership in T20Is for any wicket.
Yamamoto-Lake and Kadowaki-Fleming scored 134* and 109*, respectively, making it the second instance of both openers smashing hundreds in the same T20I innings.
The first such instance belongs to the Czech Republic pair of Dylan Steyn and Sabawoon Davizi. Steyn brought up 106, while Davizi scored 115 not out while forging a 220-run first wicket stand against Bulgaria in 2022.
Aaron Finch and D’Arcy Short shared the first 200-plus run opening partnership in T20I cricket. The duo put up 223 runs for the first wicket against Zimbabwe in the 2018 tri-series.
Finch hammered 172 runs off 76 balls, the highest individual score in the shortest format. This is also the highest score by a captain in a T20I innings.
The South African opening pair of Loots Bosman and Graeme Smith became the first pair to post a 150-plus stand for any wicket in T20Is. Their 170-run first-wicket partnership helped South Africa post 241 for 6 on the board against England at Centurion in 2009.
Bosman and Smith were also the first opening duo to stitch a 100-plus run partnership in T20Is. Their unbeaten 132-run stand helped South Africa overhaul a 130-run target against Pakistan in 2007.
Romania’s Ramesh Satheesan and Taranjeet Singh have recorded a run rate of 20.47 in their unbeaten 116-run opening stand off 34 balls against Serbia in 2021. This is the highest run rate in a 100-plus run first-wicket partnership in T20Is.
Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have stitched together eight century partnerships for the first wicket, the most by an opening pair in T20Is.
Azam and Rizwan are the lone opening duo to aggregate more than 2500 runs in the shortest format.
Jos Buttler and Alex Hales partnered for an unbeaten 170-run stand for the first wicket against India in 2022, the highest in a T20 World Cup match.
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