There is a saying in cricket that partnerships win games for the team, and this is especially important as the format gets longer. Whether it is ODI or Tests, the need for long and huge batting partnerships is paramount for the batting team. This helps the batting team not just by piling up huge scores but also by frustrating and draining the fielding team to a large extent.
A big partnership most often results in their team’s win, but there are occasions when a team loses despite a monumental stand from one of their batting pairs. Here in this article, we delve into such occurrences where the team has lost, even though a pair has added a significant number of runs for any wicket.
Let’s look at the top 10 highest partnerships that came in losing cause in ODIs.
Highest Partnership in a Losing Cause in ODI
| Partners | Runs | Wicket | Against | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi (AFG) | 242 | 6th | Sri Lanka | Pallekele | 9 Feb 2024 |
| Herschelle Gibbs, Gary Kirsten (SA) | 235 | 1st | India | Kochi | 9 Mar 2000 |
| Ijaz Ahmed, Saeed Anwar (PAK) | 230 | 3rd | India | Dhaka | 18 Jan 1998 |
| Kevin O’Brien, William Porterfield (IRE) | 227 | 4th | Kenya | Nairobi | 2 Feb 2007 |
| Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (AFG) | 227 | 1st | Pakistan | Hambantota | 24 Aug 2023 |
| Andrew Flintoff, Andrew Staruss (ENG) | 226 | 4th | West Indies | Lord’s | 6 Jul 2004 |
| Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed (PAK) | 224 | 1st | India | Mirpur | 18 Mar 2012 |
| Mohammad Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja (IND) | 223 | 5th | Sri Lanka | Colombo (RPS) | 17 Aug 1997 |
| VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh (IND) | 213 | 4th | Australia | Sydney | 22 Jan 2004 |
| Andrew Balbirnie, Harry Tector (IRE) | 212* | 3rd | Zimbabwe | Harare | 18 Jan 2023 |
(Check out other partnership-related articles here.)
Key Insights
242: This is the biggest partnership in the history of ODI cricket in a losing cause. This happened between the pair of Azmatullah Omarzai and Mohammad Nabi in an ODI game between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan at Pallekele. It is the only 200-run stand for the 6th or lower wickets that came in a loss.
150: There have been over 115 instances where a partnership of 150 or more runs resulted in a losing cause for a team, with most of them coming between the 1st and 4th wickets.
434: One of those 150+ partnerships, a 158-run collaboration between Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey, ended up in a loss even though it helped Australia post a huge 434 runs on the board. This is the highest team total that resulted in a defeat in the 50-over format.
17: The number of times a partnership has crossed 200 or more runs in ODIs in a losing cause.
2: There are 2 pairs each from Afghanistan, India, Ireland, and Pakistan that feature in the top 10 partnerships when their teams lost.
