Australia and England are playing the 3rd ODI of the 3-match series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. England won the toss and opted to bowl, and they had no idea what the Australian openers had in store for them. David Warner and Travis Head opened for Australia, and they went all guns blazing.
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The southpaws showed their attacking instincts from the very start, and they were really positive with the bat. Head was given out when he was just at his individual score of 9 runs, but he took a DRS and the decision was overturned. The pair did not look back after that decision.
Both openers added 269 runs for the 1st wicket, where both of them scored their individual centuries. Head scored 152 runs in 130 balls, whereas Warner scored 106 runs in 102 balls. In the 39th over, England’s pacer Olly Stone removed both openers, but they certainly did their job before it.
Highest opening partnership in ODI history
West Indies’ duo of John Campbell and Shai Hope has the record of the highest opening partnership in the history of ODI cricket. Both of them achieved the feat against Ireland in 2019 in Dublin. Both of them scored their respective centuries as well, and West Indies won the match by 196 runs.
Pakistan’s opening duo of Fakhar Zaman and Imam ul Haq stitched 304 runs for the opening wicket against Zimbabwe in 2018, which comes at the 2nd position in the history of highest opening partnerships in the ODIs. The match was played in Bulawayo in Zimbabwe.
Bangladesh’s Tamim Iqbal and Litton Das added 292 runs against Zimbabwe in 2020, whereas Sri Lanka’s Upul Tharanga and Sanath Jayasuriya added 286 runs against England in 2006. The partnerships come at 3rd and 4th positions, respectively.
The duo of David Warner and Travis Head once added 284 runs at the Adelaide Oval in 2017 against Pakistan, and this partnership comes at the 5th position. Both of them scored their individual centuries in that match as well.
| S No. | Batters | Runs | Opposition | Venue | Year |
| 1 | John Campbell and Shai Hope (West Indies) | 365 | Ireland | Dublin | 2019 |
| 2 | Imam ul Haq and Fakhar Zaman (Pakistan) | 304 | Zimbabwe | Bulawayo | 2018 |
| 3 | Tamim Iqbal and Litton Das (Bangladesh) | 292 | Zimbabwe | Sylhet | 2020 |
| 4 | Upul Tharanga and Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka) | 286 | England | Leeds | 2006 |
| 5 | David Warner and Travis Head (Australia) | 284 | Pakistan | Adelaide | 2017 |
1st wicket highest partnership in ODI by Australian openers
Warner’s and Head’s partnership of 284 runs against Pakistan at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide is the best ODI opening partnership for Australia in ODIs. Australia scored 369/7 in the 1st innings courtesy of centuries from both the openers and the Aussie side won the match by 57 runs at the end.
