Highest 1st wicket partnership in T20 International: Highest opening partnership in T20 International cricket

Highest 1st wicket partnership in T20I: The ever-reliable Pakistani opening batters proved their mettle yet again tonight.

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

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.

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.

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