Highest 1st wicket partnership in T20I: The ever-reliable Pakistani opening batters proved their mettle yet again tonight.
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Pakistan opening batters Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam made a mockery of a 200-run chase in the second T20I against England at the National Stadium tonight.
An unbeaten 117-ball 203-run opening partnership, which resulted in being the fourth-highest T20I innings total in Karachi, powered Rizwan and Azam to register the highest successful T20I run-chase for Pakistan. In fact, it is for the first time that a 10-wicket victory in T20s witnessed two openers crossing the 200-run mark.
Putting behind a substandard batting performance in the first T20I at the same venue, Pakistan wicket-keeper batter Rizwan and captain Azam scored their 18th half-century and second century respectively in this format to literally punish the English bowlers.
If you think Babar and Rizwan have been the problem… you really haven’t been watching the last couple of years !!
— Nasser Hussain (@nassercricket) September 22, 2022
While Rizwan scored 88* (51) with the help of five fours and four sixes at a strike rate of 172.54, Azam contributed with 110* (66) including 11 fours and five sixes at a strike rate of 166.66 to ensure a 1-1 series scoreline with five more matches to be played.
The right-handed batters putting on a show in front of a packed stadium culminated in an electrifying atmosphere as everyone present at the venue appeared to have relished the occasion.
Highest 1st wicket partnership in T20I
| Batters | Runs | Team | Opposition | Ground | Year |
| Hazratullah Zazai & Usman Ghani | 236 | Afghanistan | Ireland | Dehradun | 2019 |
| Aaron Finch & D’Arcy Short | 223 | Australia | Zimbabwe | Harare | 2018 |
| Sabawoon Davizi & Dylan Steyn | 220 | Czech Republic | Bulgaria | Marsa | 2022 |
| Balaji Pai & Louis Bruce | 213 | Gibraltar | Bulgaria | Marsa | 2022 |
| Mohammad Rizwan & Babar Azam | 203* | Pakistan | England | Karachi | 2022 |
In addition to being the fifth-highest T20I opening partnership, Rizwan and Azam’s partnership is also the fifth-highest T20I partnership for all wickets. Only the sixth 200+ T20I partnership (all for first wicket), it has extended this pair’s lead to seven as far as most hundred partnerships in this format are concerned.
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Currently at the second position in the list of highest opening partnership runs in T20Is, it won’t be too long before Rizwan and Azam (1,621) surpass India’s Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma (1,743). If the filter of opening batters is removed, Rizwan and Azam (1,929) already have the highest partnership runs in T20Is.
