Glorious beginnings: Top 5 opening stands in T20 cricket

A strong opening partnership is the most important in any format of cricket. Although in T20s, many teams often prefer to have a brisk start from their openers rather than them batting through the innings and end up restricting the power hitters to the dugout. Very few opening pairs in T20s have done justice to their long stay by guiding the team to a victory.

Here we look at the top five partnerships in the Twenty20 format for the first wicket:

5) 207 by Marcus Stoinis and Hilton Cartwright against Sydney Sixers in 2020:

A sensational knock from Marcus Stoinis put the Melbourne Stars on the top during their home game against Sydney Sixers during BBL 2019-20. In the game hosted by the MCG, Stoinis smashed an unbeaten 147 from 79 balls which included 13 fours and 8 sixes. The all-rounder added 207 runs for the 1st wicket with Hilton Cartwright whose contribution was 59 off 40. Cartwright got out on the first ball of the 20th over after putting on the highest T20 partnership on Australian soil. Melbourne Stars finished on 219/1 and won the match by a 44-run margin.

4) 207 by Daniel Bell-Drummond and Joe Denly against Essex in 2017:

The Kent openers Daniel Bell-Drummond (80) and Joe Denly (127) took down the Essex team in the 2017 T20 Blast game when they toured Chelmsford. The duo added 207 runs for the first wicket in only 18.3 overs before Denly got out after scoring a sensational 66-ball 127. Kent finished with 221/2 and held on to an 11-run win thanks to some good bowling at the death. The 207-run stand was then the highest opening partnership in T20 cricket and just the second stand of 200+ runs in T20s for the first wicket. However, this partnership remains as the highest for any wicket on England soil.

3)  209* by Kamran Akmal and Salman Butt against Islamabad in 2017:

Kamran Akmal was the star of the 2017 National T20 Cup match between Lahore Whites and Islamabad as he ended up with a record-breaking 150* which came in only 71 balls. Representing the Lahore team, Kamran found support from his skipper Salman Butt who anchored the innings with 55* off 49 balls. The opening pair of Lahore Whites formed an unbeaten partnership of 209 runs which was the then-record in T20 cricket. The total was more than enough for Lahore as Islamabad were bowled out for only 100.

2) 223 by Aaron Finch and D’Arcy Short against Zimbabwe in 2018:

Aaron Finch broke his own record of highest individual T20I score while leading Australia during the 2018 T20I Tri-series in Zimbabwe. During a game against the home team, the opening batsman smashed 172 from 76 balls before getting out via hit-wicket and fell short of breaking Chris Gayle’s 175*. Finch, in this process, added 223 runs for the first wicket in 19.2 overs alongside D’Arcy Short who crawled to a 42-ball 46. It was the highest opening stand in T20s at that time and also the 2nd highest for any wicket. Aussies finished with 229/2 in their 20 overs and ended up winning the game by 100 runs.

1) 236 by Hazratullah Zazai and Usman Ghani against Ireland in 2019:

Afghanistan’s highest partnership in T20Is ✅
The first 200-run partnership for Afghanistan in T20Is ✅
Maiden Century in T20Is for @zazai_3 ✅
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Will Zazai and Usman Ghani break the World record partnership of 223 runs in T20Is? #AFGvIRE pic.twitter.com/rsZfN8yOSS

— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) February 23, 2019

The Afghanistan opener Hazratullah Zazai put on a show of his destructive batting against Ireland during the 2019 T20I series. In the 2nd game of the 3-match series hosted by Dehradun, the Afghanistan team made merry of records as Hazratullah kept finding the fence every over. Hazratullah raised his hundred in only 42 balls and soon Afghanistan’s total got to 200 in just 15.3 overs.

Ireland found success when Ghani fell to Boyd Rankin scoring a 48-ball 73. By then, Afghanistan reached 236 in 17.3 overs and the pair of Hazratullah and Usman scripted history by recording the highest T20 partnership for any wicket. Zazai finished unbeaten on 162 from only 62 balls with help of 16 maximums. Afghanistan posted 278/3 in their 20 overs which is the highest total by any team in men’s T20 cricket. Ireland, in reply, finished with 194/6 despite having a 126-run opening stand in only 11.5 overs.