PSL highest partnership: Highest partnership in PSL history for all wickets

Dixit Bhargav | 09/03/2023
PSL highest partnership: Highest partnership in PSL history for all wickets

Peshawar Zalmi opening batter Saim Ayub and captain Babar Azam joined hands to put together the second-highest partnership in the history of the Pakistan Super League at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium last night.

Also the second-highest opening partnership in the eight seasons of competition till now, Ayub and Azam registered an 81-ball 162-run stand before the former played a shot too many to get out in the 14th over. A slightly dominant partner between the two, Ayub scored 74 (34) with the help of six fours and five sixes at a strike rate of 217.64 in a partnership where the batters batted at a strike rate of 200.

Azam, meanwhile, scored his maiden century in the PSL to become the 13th cricketer to score a century in the tournament. Having said that, the 29-year old player still faced severe criticism for his eventual strike rate of 176.92 in an ultra high-scoring match which witnessed Quetta Gladiators registering the highest successful run-chase in the PSL.

Azam, who responded to critics in a sarcastic manner during the post-match press conference, is the only batter to feature as many as four times among the Top 10 PSL highest partnerships. Sharjeel Khan, Azam’s teammate at Karachi Kings until last season, is next on the list with three entries among the Top 10 highest partnerships in PSL.

As a result, it isn’t surprising as to why three out of the Top 10 partnerships have been achieved by players representing Kings. While Karachi and Quetta have been at the receiving end of top PSL partnerships twice each, defending champions Lahore Qalandars are at the top of the list on the back of conceding three such partnerships.

Highest partnership in PSL history for all wickets (table updated on March 11, 2023)

S. No. Batters Runs Wicket Team Opposition Ground Year
1 Sharjeel Khan & Babar Azam 176 1st Karachi Kings Islamabad United Karachi 2021
2 Saim Ayub & Babar Azam 162 1st Peshawar Zalmi Quetta Gladiators Rawalpindi 2023
3 Liam Livingstone & Babar Azam 157 1st Karachi Kings Multan Sultans Dubai 2019
4 Usman Khan & Mohammad Rizwan 157 1st Multan Sultans Quetta Gladiators Rawalpindi 2023
5 Ben Dunk & Smit Patel 155 4th Lahore Qalandars Quetta Gladiators Lahore 2020
6 Ahsan Ali & Will Smeed 155 1st Quetta Gladiators Peshawar Zalmi Karachi 2022
7 Shane Watson & Sharjeel Khan 153 1st Islamabad United Lahore Qalandars Sharjah 2016
8 Sharjeel Khan & Babar Azam 151* 1st Karachi Kings Lahore Qalandars Karachi 2020
9 Colin Munro & Iftikhar Ahmed 150* 3rd Islamabad United Karachi Kings Abu Dhabi 2021
10 Shan Masood & Mohammad Rizwan 150 1st Multan Sultans Lahore Qalandars Karachi 2022
Post Edited By: Dixit Bhargav

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.