T20 World Cup: Highest partnerships in the tournament

T20 World Cup is the height of International T20 cricket and has produced a number of remarkable pairings that have had a long-lasting influence on the competition’s format. Building a successful partnership is incredibly difficult since both batters must perform well to set a decent target. 

Highest partnerships in T20 World Cup

• Alex Hales and Jos Buttler

When England faced India in the 2022 World Cup Semi-final, Jos Butler and Alex Hales formed the highest partnership in T20 World Cup history. India, who batted first, set a target of 169 runs, which was an easy target for England’s openers to chase down in 16 overs with both of them scoring 80 or more runs.

• Quinton De Kock and Rilee Rossouw

Rossouw, Rilee and Quinton De Kock had the second-highest partnership in T20 World Cup history. This occurred in the same tournament as the previous one, but this time it was in the group stage match when South Africa was facing Bangladesh and they lost their captain on a single digit. At that point, Rossouw scored a century and De Kock scored 63 runs, resulting in the partnership between them.

• Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara

When Sri Lanka met West Indies in the 2010 World Cup group stage, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara combined for the third-highest partnership in world cup history. When Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara made 166 runs to set a target of 196, which the West Indies could not pursue, Sri Lanka won the match by 57 runs.

• Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan

Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam had the fourth-highest partnership in T20 World Cup history; this came in the most significant encounter when Pakistan faced India in the group stage match of the 2021 World Cup. India batted first and set a target of 152, which Pakistan easily took down with 13 balls remaining and without losing a wicket, with Mohammad Rizwan getting 79 runs and Babar Azam scoring 68 runs.

• Eoin Morgan and Alex Hales

Alex Hales and Eoin Morgan hold the fifth-highest scoring partnership in World Cup history, which came against Sri Lanka in the group stage in 2014. Sri Lanka batted first, setting England a target of 190; England lost their opener for a duck and were 0/2 when Eoin Morgan joined Alex Hales and they both went on to score 152 runs, winning the match for their team, with Alex Hales hitting a century.

• Chris Gayle and Devon Smith

Chris Gayle and Devon Smith have the world’s third highest first-wicket partnership, but this is different because it came on the losing side; West Indies were facing South Africa in the first match of the first-ever world cup when West Indies batting set South Africa a target of 205 with Gayle scoring a century, but West Indies lost this match as Herschelle Gibbs scored 90 runs to win this match for his team.

• Kamran Akmal and Salman Butt

Salman Butt and Karman Akmal had the seventh-highest wicket partnership in world cup history, which occurred in 2010 when Pakistan faced Bangladesh in a group stage match. Pakistan batted first, reaching 172 runs, with both openers making 142 runs for the first wicket, each contributing 73 runs; Pakistan won the match by 21 runs, with Salman Butt named man of the match.

• Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul

When India faced Afghanistan in the 2021 World Cup group stage match, India batting first scored 210 runs with 140 runs coming in the first wicket partnership as Rohit Sharma scored 74 runs and KL Rahul scored 69 runs for their team as India won by 66 runs.

• Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag

This match was famous for Yuvraj Singh’s six sixes but was also famous for the opening partnership between Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir as they both combined to score 136 runs, as Sehwag scored 68 runs and Gautam Gambhir scored 58 runs, as India won this match by 18 runs.

• Chris Gayle and Andre Fletcher

Chris Gayle and Andre Fletcher have the second-highest West Indies partnership in the T20 world cup; this came against Australia in the 2009 World Cup group stage match; Australia’s batting first set a target of 170 runs, West Indies openers combined to score 133 runs, with Andre Fletcher scoring 53 runs and Chris Gayle scoring 88 runs and winning the man of the match.