Most partnership runs in ODI cricket: The super successful Indian opening duo put together yet another century partnership today.
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India opening batters Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have added yet another coup to their kitty in the form of a match-winning 114-run opening stand in the recently concluded first ODI at The Oval.
Chasing a 111-run target, Sharma and Dhawan dominated proceedings to seal the chase with 188 balls left. India’s seventh 10-wicket ODI victory is their biggest in and against England.
Captain Sharma, in particular, played a titular role in the second innings scoring 76* (58) with the help of seven fours and five sixes. Although the visitors had a lot of time to get their eyes in, a strike rate of 131.03 covered up for Dhawan’s strike rate of 57.40.
In spite of the left-handed batter not being at his best in his first ODI in five months, the pair never really gave the English bowlers any chance of making inroads into their lineup. A solitary opportunity of picking a wicket had come in the form of a missed run-out by Jonny Bairstow on the first ball of the innings.
“Shikhar [Dhawan] and me understand each other quite well, except for the first ball where there was that misjudgement. He is playing ODIs after a long time,” Sharma told Sky Sports during the post-match presentation ceremony about his mix-up with Dhawan.
Most partnership runs in ODI cricket
While Sharma completed his 45th ODI century in the 17th over, the duo brought up a 100-run partnership in the following over. Currently at the seventh position (5.153 runs in 114 innings) in the list of most partnership runs in ODI cricket, Sharma and Dhawan jumping positions frequently from hereon shouldn’t be surprising by any means.
Having said that, it will be interesting to see if these two batters are able to outdo the best-ever opening pair of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly or not.
| Partners | Span | Innings | Runs | Highest |
| Sourav Ganguly & Sachin Tendulkar (IND) | 1992-2007 | 176 | 8227 | 258 |
| Mahela Jayawardene & Kumar Sangakkara (SL) | 2000-2015 | 151 | 5992 | 179 |
| Tillakaratne Dilshan & Kumar Sangakkara (SL) | 2000-2015 | 108 | 5475 | 210* |
| Marvan Atapattu & Sanath Jayasuriya (SL) | 1996-2007 | 146 | 5462 | 237 |
| Adam Gilchrist & Matthew Hayden (AUS) | 2000-2008 | 117 | 5409 | 172 |
Most hundred partnership in ODI history
Talking about most century partnerships in ODIs, Tendulkar and Ganguly (26) have maintained a stellar lead in this aspect as well. Followed by Tillarakatne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara (20), Top Four of this list comprises of two more Indian pairs in Virat Kohli and Sharma (18) and Dhawan and Sharma (18).
