Highest partnership in T20 cricket: Hazratullah Zazai and Usman Ghani hold the record

A strong batting foundation is laid on the back of partnerships in cricket. The art of building partnerships perhaps holds great significance, especially in the T20 format where scoring runs while maintaining a healthy run-rate is crucial in the action-packed 20-over format.

Twenty20 cricket, once regarded as a game of power hitters with huge strike-rates, has seen a paradigm shift of sorts of late where building partnerships and constructing an innings has grown in significance over the years as opposed to batters just going hell for leather from the off.

Afghanistan’s Hazratullah Zazai and Usman Ghani hold the record for the highest partnership in T20 format. They stitched a 236-run partnership against Ireland on 23 Feb, 2019, which is also the record biggest-ever opening stand in T20 cricket. Thanks to the double-century stand, Afghanistan notched a mammoth 278 runs batting first which is the joint highest score in men’s T20 cricket.

The previous record for highest partnership in T20 cricket was held by Australia’s Aaron Finch and D’Arcy Short. The two added 223 runs for the first wicket against Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, Team Bangalore’s Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers hold the record for the highest partnership in the Indian T20 League. 

The duo put on a 229-run partnership for the second wicket against Team Gujarat at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru in 2016. As a result, Bangalore reached 248/3 in 20 overs to record the second-highest team total in the Indian T20 League. 

Highest partnership in T20 internationals

Highest partnership in Indian T20 League

Featured photo: Manjunath Kiran / AFP