Highest Opening Partnership in Test
Published on: Dec 17, 2021 5:50 pm IST|Updated on: Dec 17, 2021 5:49 pm IST
Highest Opening Partnership in Test – Test Match cricket is undoubtedly the most grueling format of the game. It is a format in which batters have to maintain utmost concentration and bowlers require a lot of patience to get the breakthroughs.
Highest Opening Partnership in Test
We have seen several great individual knocks in Test cricket. However, at the end of the day, cricket is nothing but a team game. In this article, we will have a look at some of the highest opening partnerships in Test cricket. Over the years, there have been some great opening batting combinations which have dominated the opposition team. Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer, Graeme Smith and H. Gibbs are just a few notable mentions of some great opening pairs.
The record for the highest opening partnership in Test cricket goes to South African duo of Niel McKenzie and Graeme Smith. The duo stitched together a partnership of 415 runs against a helpless Bangladeshi bowling attack at Chattogram in 2008.
The partnership was finally broken in the 95th over, when Graeme Smith was dismissed for a score of 232 runs. Neil McKenzie was dismissed shortly after for a score of 226 runs of 388 runs. The impressive thing about the partnership was that they scored runs at a blistering pace, almost around 5 per over. South Africa went on to win the match pretty comfortably, defeating the hosts by an innings and 205 runs.
Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid opening partnership features in the list
MH Mankad and P. Roy’s partnership of 413 runs against New Zealand in Chennai way back in 1956 is the second highest opening stand in Test cricket. Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag stitched a partnership of 410 runs against Pakistan in Lahore in 2006, which makes the third on the list.
| Batsmen | Highest Opening Partnership | Opposition |
| Neil McKenzie & Graeme Smith | 415 | Bangladesh, 2008 |
| MH Mankad & P. Roy | 413 | New Zealand, 1956 |
| Rahul Dravid & Virender Sehwag | 410 | Pakistan, 2006 |
| GM Turner & TW Jarvis | 387 | West Indies, 1972 |
| WM Lawry & RB Simpson | 382 | West Indies, 1965 |
Virender Sehwag contributed 254 runs to that opening stand, smashing 47 boundaries and one maximum. He batted at a strike rate of 102.83, whereas, Rahul Dravid scored 128 runs off 233 balls, with 19 boundaries to his name. The duo batted together for almost 77 overs, before Sehwag was dismissed.
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