Highest opening partnership in PSL: Opening batters from Quetta Gladiators have registered the fourth-highest PSL partnership.
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During the second match of the ongoing seventh season of the Pakistan Super League between Quetta Gladiators and Peshawar Zalmi in Karachi, Quetta Gladiators opening batters Ahsan Ali and Will Smeed scored maiden (individual) PSL half-centuries to put together a 155-run opening partnership.
In what is the third-highest opening partnership in the PSL, it is the fourth-highest for any wicket in the tournament. Considering the number of overs left when Ali was dismissed, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that the pair has missed a golden opportunity of stitching a record opening stand.
Opening the batting together for the first time in the PSL, Ali and Smeed complemented each other exceptionally matching one another in both scoring boundaries and rotating strike throughout the innings.
Making his debut in the PSL tonight, Smeed led the partnership from the word go but the difference between runs scored by both the batters wasn’t a lot especially after Ali got his eye in.
While Smeed completed a half-century by hitting a six off Sameen Gul in the 11th over, Ali reached the 50-run mark by hitting a six off Peshawar Zalmi stand-in captain Shoaib Malik in the following over.
It was in the 16th over that Zalmi spinner Usman Qadir dismissed Ali to pick the first wicket of the night. While Ali departed after scoring 73 (46) with the help of eight fours and three sixes, Smeed went on to score 97 (62) including 11 fours and four sixes to power his team to 190/4 in 20 overs.
Highest opening partnership in PSL (table updated on March 11, 2023)
The ‘Bowler’s nightmare continues’…💥🚀 #PindiRoad! #Usiepower! Fastest ever PSL 100 🫣👏👏👏 @thePSLt20 pic.twitter.com/qOtQ1JpPFr
— Danny Morrison (@SteelyDan66) March 11, 2023
| S. No. | Batters | Runs | Team | Opposition | Ground | Year |
| 1 | Sharjeel Khan & Babar Azam | 176 | Karachi Kings | Islamabad United | Karachi | 2021 |
| 2 | Saim Ayub & Babar Azam | 162 | Peshawar Zalmi | Quetta Gladiators | Rawalpindi | 2023 |
| 3 | Liam Livingstone & Babar Azam | 157 | Karachi Kings | Multan Sultans | Dubai | 2019 |
| 4 | Usman Khan & Mohammad Rizwan | 157 | Multan Sultans | Quetta Gladiators | Rawalpindi | 2023 |
| 5 | Ahsan Ali & Will Smeed | 155 | Quetta Gladiators | Peshawar Zalmi | Karachi | 2022 |
| 6 | Shane Watson & Sharjeel Khan | 153 | Islamabad United | Lahore Qalandars | Sharjah | 2016 |
| 7 | Sharjeel Khan & Babar Azam | 151* | Karachi Kings | Lahore Qalandars | Karachi | 2020 |
| 8 | Shan Masood & Mohammad Rizwan | 150 | Multan Sultans | Lahore Qalandars | Karachi | 2022 |
| 9 | Usman Khawaja & Colin Munro | 137* | Islamabad United | Quetta Gladiators | Abu Dhabi | 2021 |
| 10 | Kamran Akmal & Imam-ul-Haq | 137 | Peshawar Zalmi | Karachi Kings | Karachi | 2019 |
Full list of PSL highest partnerships (by wickets)
| Wickets | Batters | Runs | Team | Opposition | Ground | Year |
| 1 | Sharjeel Khan & Babar Azam | 176 | Karachi Kings | Islamabad United | Karachi | 2021 |
| 2 | Ahmed Shehzad & Kevin Pietersen | 133 | Quetta Gladiators | Islamabad United | Dubai | 2017 |
| 3 | Colin Munro & Iftikhar Ahmed | 150* | Islamabad United | Karachi Kings | Abu Dhabi | 2021 |
| 4 | Ben Dunk & Smit Patel | 155 | Lahore Qalandars | Quetta Gladiators | Lahore | 2020 |
| 5 | Shoaib Malik & Imad Wasim | 131 | Karachi Kings | Peshawar Zalmi | Karachi | 2023 |
| 6 | Iftikhar Ahmed & Asif Ali | 123 | Islamabad United | Lahore Qalandars | Abu Dhabi | 2021 |
| 7 | Liam Dawson & Faheem Ashraf | 78 | Islamabad United | Quetta Gladiators | Lahore | 2022 |
| 8 | Mohammad Nawaz & James Faulkner | 76 | Quetta Gladiators | Islamabad United | Karachi | 2022 |
| 9 | Hasan Ali & Mohammad Wasim | 62 | Islamabad United | Peshawar Zalmi | Abu Dhabi | 2021 |
| 10 | Grant Elliott & Zulfiqar Babar | 63 | Quetta Gladiators | Peshawar Zalmi | Sharjah | 2016 |
