Opening the batting is perhaps a huge task for a batter. They have to lay a strong foundation for the team to put up a big score on the board.
And only bigger partnerships between the opening pair can bring that into reality. Some opening partners understood it well enough and built several century stands for the first wicket while negotiating the threat of the new white ball.
So here are the top 10 opening batting pairs with the most 100 partnerships in ODI cricket.
Most 100 Partnerships by Opening Pairs in ODIs
| Pair | Innings | 100 Partnerships | Highest Partnership |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar (IND) | 136 | 21 | 258 |
| Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma (IND) | 115 | 18 | 210 |
| Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden (AUS) | 114 | 16 | 172 |
| Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes (WI) | 102 | 15 | 192* |
| Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy (ENG) | 50 | 14 | 174 |
| Aaron Finch, David Warner (AUS) | 80 | 12 | 258* |
| Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar (IND) | 93 | 12 | 182 |
| Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock (SA) | 93 | 11 | 282* |
| Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga (SL) | 71 | 9 | 282 |
| Herschelle Gibbs, Gary Kirsten (SA) | 66 | 9 | 235 |
Key Insights
21: Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar have scored the most 100 partnerships among the opening pairs in ODI cricket. The Indian pair stitched 21 century stands from 136 innings they opened for the team.
26: In fact, Ganguly and Tendulkar have also registered the most 100 partnerships by a pair for any wicket in this format. Apart from their 21 opening 100 stands, they added three century partnerships for the second wicket and two for the third.
6609: The pair has also racked up the most opening partnership runs in ODIs. Ganguly and Tendulkar scored 6609 opening runs while batting together.
10: The West Indies’ opening pair of Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes were the first to build more than 10 century partnerships.
5: Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, and Rohit Sharma have featured in five or more hundred partnerships with three partners.
Sachin Tendulkar: Sourav Ganguly (21), Virender Sehwag (12), Ajay Jadeja (5)
Virender Sehwag: Sachin Tendulkar (12), Sourav Ganguly (5), Gautam Gambhir (5)
Rohit Sharma: Shikhar Dhawan (18), Shubman Gill (6), KL Rahul (5)
45: Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden forged the most fifty-or-more runs first wicket partnerships in ODIs. Find here one of the exhilarating innings by the Australian duo. The duo put together 45 fifty-plus run stands, with the Ganguly-Tendulkar pair following them with 44.
200: Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene and Upul Tharanga have stitched the most double century stands of the opening wicket. The pair put up 200 runs together three times against Asian opponents. Interestingly, Sri Lanka won all three matches.
Jayawardene-Tharanga 200 partnerships for the first wicket:
- 202 vs Pakistan, Dambulla, 3 August 2009
- 215 vs Bangladesh, Mirpur, 8 January 2010
- 213 vs India, Kingston, 2 July 2013
365: This is the highest partnership by an opening pair in ODI cricket. John Campbell and Shai Hope came together against Ireland in 2019 and slammed 365 runs for the first wicket. Interestingly, this was the only time the pair opened for the West Indies.
Check: Highest Individual Score by ODI Debutant
