Highest 2nd Wicket Partnership in ODI

When a team loses the first wicket early in the innings, the 2nd wicket partnership becomes the foundation for rebuilding. 

The batsmen at the crease need to establish a steady partnership, ensuring that they not only survive the initial pressure but also start accumulating runs. 

It aims to nullify the advantage gained by the bowling side with the early dismissal and helps the team regain control of the game.

The history of ODI cricket has witnessed so many great second wicket partnerships and the record of the highest 2nd wicket partnership in ODI is a whopping 372 runs! 

This record belongs to Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels from the West Indies team. They put on this massive score against Zimbabwe in 2015.

In this article, we will share the top 10 highest 2nd wicket partnerships in ODI cricket history.

From the Caribbean carnage of Gayle and Samuels to the Dravid-Tendulkar symphony, these partnerships showcase the power of teamwork, the elegance of strokeplay, and the sheer audacity of defying the bowlers.

Highest 2nd Wicket Partnership in ODI | Top 10

Here is the detailed overview of the top 10 highest 2nd wicket partnerships in ODI cricket History.

1. Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels (West Indies) – 372 Runs Partnership

Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels of the West Indies put on a mammoth 372 runs against Zimbabwe in Canberra on February 24, 2015. 

The West Indies won the toss and elected to bat first. After losing Dwayne Smith early, Gayle and Samuels took over the show, completely dismantling the Zimbabwean bowling attack.

Gayle scored 215 runs while Samuels contributed 133 runs to their team’s total of 372 for 2 wickets. 

In reply, Zimbabwe struggled to chase down the massive target, eventually falling short by 73 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis method.

2. Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid (India) – 331 Runs Partnership

Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid added 331 runs for India against New Zealand in Hyderabad on November 8, 1999. 

The partnership started with a cautious approach, building a solid foundation as they navigated the early overs. 

Once settled, they began to unleash their strokes, finding the boundaries with ease and dispatching the bowlers with disdain.

Tendulkar scored 186 runs while Dravid chipped in with 153 runs as India reached a total of 376 for 2 wickets. 

he New Zealanders were never in the hunt, succumbing to the pressure of the massive target and eventually falling short by a huge margin of 174 runs.

3. Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid (India) – 318 Runs Partnership

On May 26, 1999, at Taunton, England, in the ICC World Cup, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid carved their names into the record books with a mammoth 318-run partnership.

Their partnership took shape meticulously, starting with cautious build-up in the early overs. 

As they gained confidence, they began to unleash their strokes, finding the boundaries with increasing ease. The Sri Lankan bowlers were left helpless as the runs piled on relentlessly.

Ganguly scored 183 runs while Dravid scored 145 runs as India posted a total of 373 for 6 wickets. 

Sri Lanka couldn’t muster a fight against the massive target, eventually falling short by a convincing margin of 157 runs.

The Indian bowlers capitalized on the demoralized Sri Lankan batsmen, securing a comfortable victory.

4. Ishan Kishan and Virat Kohli (India) – 290 Runs Partnership

Ishan Kishan and Virat Kohli’s 290 runs partnership for India against Bangladesh in Chattogram on December 10, 2022, comes in at number 4. 

Kishan was in a class of his own. He smashed the fastest double century in ODI history, reaching the landmark in just 126 balls. 

His innings was a display of raw power and audacity, peppered with 24 fours and 10 sixes. 

He danced down the wicket, clearing the ropes with disdain, sending the Bangladeshi bowlers into despair.

Kohli provided the perfect anchor to Kishan’s hurricane. He played a composed innings, reaching his 72nd international century (113 off 85 balls) with trademark elegance and precision. 

Kishan’s dismissal shortly after his double ton couldn’t dampen the Indian momentum. 

The middle order chipped in with valuable contributions, pushing the final score to a mammoth 409 for 8 wickets, the highest ever posted by India against Bangladesh.

In reply, the Bangladeshi batsmen were never in the hunt, succumbing to the pressure of the chase and eventually falling short by a substantial margin of 227 runs.

5. Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra (New Zealand) – 273 Runs* Partnership

Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra of New Zealand put together 273* runs against England in Ahmedabad on October 5, 2023. 

New Zealand lost Will Young for a duck in the second over, but Conway and Ravindra steadied the ship with a cautious start.

Soon, they began to unleash their strokes, finding the boundaries with increasing ease. The English bowlers were left helpless as the runs piled on relentlessly.

Conway scored 152 runs while Ravindra scored 123 runs as New Zealand reached a total of 283 for 1 wicket.

6. Aamer Sohail and Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pakistan) – 263 Runs Partnership

Aamer Sohail and Inzamam-ul-Haq of Pakistan scored 263 runs against New Zealand in Sharjah on April 20, 1994. 

Their partnership was a masterclass in building an innings, pacing themselves, and capitalizing on every opportunity. 

The Sharjah crowd witnessed a true spectacle of batting dominance, with boundaries raining down and the atmosphere electric.

Sohail scored 134 runs while Inzamam contributed 137 runs as Pakistan reached a total of 328 for 2 wickets. 

Pakistan comfortably won the match by 62 runs. New Zealand could only manage 266/9 in reply.

7. David Warner and Steve Smith (Australia) – 260 Runs Partnership

David Warner and Steve Smith of Australia scored 260 runs against Afghanistan in Perth on March 4, 2015. 

Their partnership started with a cautious approach, navigating the early overs with respect. 

Once settled, they began to unleash their strokes, the boundaries flowing freely as they exploited the gaps in the Afghan field.

Warner scored 178 runs while Smith contributed 95 runs as Australia reached a total of 417 for 6 wickets.

In reply, Afghanistan were never in the hunt. The pressure of the chase and the sheer size of the target proved too much to handle. 

They succumbed to the Australian bowling attack, eventually falling short by a massive margin of 275 runs.

8. Saleem Elahi and Abdul Razzaq (Pakistan) – 257 Runs Partnership

Saleem Elahi and Abdul Razzaq of Pakistan scored 257 runs against South Africa in Gqeberha on December 11, 2002. 

The stage was set for a thrilling encounter, with Pakistan needing to bounce back after losing the first ODI. 

Elahi and Razzaq, two talented batsmen with contrasting styles, but a shared determination to win.

Their partnership started cautiously, respecting the early swing of the South African bowlers. 

They navigated the first few overs without much fuss, laying a solid foundation for the innings to come. Once settled, they began to unleash their strokes. 

Elahi scored 135 runs while Razzaq contributed 112 runs as Pakistan reached a total of 335 for 6 wickets. Pakistan comfortably won the match by 182 runs.

9. Shane Watson and Ricky Ponting (Australia) – 252 Runs* Partnership

Shane Watson and Ricky Ponting of Australia scored 252 runs against England in Centurion on October 2, 2009. 

Their contrasting styles perfectly complemented each other. Ponting anchored the partnership, ensuring a steady flow of runs. 

Watson, fueled by his aggressive intent, capitalized on every scoring opportunity, preventing any pressure from building.

They ran the singles with precision, rotated the strike effortlessly, and punished anything loose with clinical efficiency.

Shane Watson and Ricky Ponting of Australia scored 252 runs against England in Centurion on October 2, 2009. 

Their contrasting styles perfectly complemented each other. Ponting anchored the partnership, ensuring a steady flow of runs. 

Watson, fueled by his aggressive intent, capitalized on every scoring opportunity, preventing any pressure from building.

They ran the singles with precision, rotated the strike effortlessly, and punished anything loose with clinical efficiency.

10. Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott (England) – 250 Runs Partnership

Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott of England scored 250 runs against Bangladesh in Birmingham on July 12, 2010. 

Strauss known for his elegant strokeplay and composure, played a dominant innings. He punished anything loose with graceful drives and flicks, finding the boundaries with ease.

Trott lived up to his nickname, anchoring the partnership with a solid 110 runs. He navigated the early overs with caution, then unleashed his trademark patience and shot selection, ensuring a consistent flow of runs.

England reached a total of 347 for 7 wickets. In reply, Bangladesh never came close to chasing down the imposing target. 

The pressure of the mammoth total and the confidence-boosting partnership proved too much to handle. 

They succumbed to the English bowling attack, eventually falling short by a convincing margin of 144 runs.

List of All the Highest 2nd Wicket Partnerships in ODI Cricket History

Sr. No	Partners	Runs	Team	Opposition	Ground	Match Date
1	Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels	372	West Indies	v Zimbabwe	Canberra	24-Feb-15
2	Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid	331	India	v New Zealand	Hyderabad (Deccan)	8-Nov-99
3	Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid	318	India	v Sri Lanka	Taunton	26-May-99
4	Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli	290	India	v Bangladesh	Chattogram	10-Dec-22
5	Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra	273*	New Zealand	v England	Ahmedabad	5-Oct-23
6	Aamer Sohail, Inzamam-ul-Haq	263	Pakistan	v New Zealand	Sharjah	20-Apr-94
7	David Warner, Steve Smith	260	Australia	v Afghanistan	Perth	4-Mar-15
8	Saleem Elahi, Abdul Razzaq	257	Pakistan	v South Africa	Gqeberha	11-Dec-02
9	Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting	252*	Australia	v England	Centurion	2-Oct-09
10	Andrew Strauss, Jonathan Trott	250	England	v Bangladesh	Birmingham	12-Jul-10
11	Alex Hales, Joe Root	248	England	v Pakistan	Nottingham	30-Aug-16
12	HM Amla, F du Plessis	247	South Africa	v Ireland	Canberra	3-Mar-15
13	RG Sharma, V Kohli	246	India	v West Indies	Guwahati	21-Oct-18
14	SR Tendulkar, SC Ganguly	244	India	v Namibia	Pietermaritzburg	23-Feb-03
15	SC Ganguly, R Dravid	236	India	v Sri Lanka	Nagpur	22-Mar-99
16	SR Tendulkar, NS Sidhu	231	India	v Pakistan	Sharjah	15-Apr-96
17	RG Sharma, V Kohli	230	India	v New Zealand	Kanpur	29-Oct-17
18	JF Kloppenburg, KJJ van Noortwijk	228	Netherlands	v Namibia	Bloemfontein	3-Mar-03
19	AC Gilchrist, RT Ponting	225	Australia	v England	Melbourne	15-Dec-02
20	PD Salt, DJ Malan	222	England	v Netherlands	Amstelveen	17-Jun-22
21	CG Greenidge, IVA Richards	221	West Indies	v India	Jamshedpur	7-Dec-83
22	Imrul Kayes, Soumya Sarkar	220	Bangladesh	v Zimbabwe	Chattogram	26-Oct-18
23	ME Waugh, RT Ponting	219	Australia	v Zimbabwe	Delhi	11-Apr-98
24	ML Hayden, RT Ponting	219	Australia	v India	Visakhapatnam	3-Apr-01
25	RG Sharma, V Kohli	219	India	v Sri Lanka	Colombo (RPS)	31-Aug-17
26	Karim Sadiq, Mohammad Shahzad	218*	Afghanistan	v Scotland	Ayr	16-Aug-10
27	SD Hope, SO Hetmyer	218	West Indies	v India	Chennai	15-Dec-19
28	PR Stirling, A Balbirnie	214	Ireland	v England	Southampton	4-Aug-20
29	RG Sharma, SS Iyer	213	India	v Sri Lanka	Mohali	13-Dec-17
30	HDRL Thirimanne, KC Sangakkara	212*	Sri Lanka	v England	Wellington	1-Mar-15
31	S Dhawan, V Kohli	212	India	v Australia	Canberra	20-Jan-16
32	TM Dilshan, KC Sangakkara	210*	Sri Lanka	v Bangladesh	Melbourne	26-Feb-15
33	G Kirsten, ND McKenzie	209	South Africa	v Kenya	Cape Town	22-Oct-01
34	SJ Modani, MD Patel	209	U.S.A.	v Oman	Pearland	8-Jun-22
35	RG Sharma, V Kohli	207	India	v Australia	Perth	12-Jan-16
36	Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan	207	Bangladesh	v West Indies	Providence	22-Jul-18
37	DL Haynes, IVA Richards	205	West Indies	v Australia	Melbourne	9-Dec-79
38	Mohsin Khan, Zaheer Abbas	205	Pakistan	v India	Multan	17-Dec-82
39	Salman Butt, Younis Khan	205	Pakistan	v India	Mirpur	14-Jun-08
40	Noor Ali Zadran, Mohammad Shahzad	205	Afghanistan	v Canada	Sharjah	16-Feb-10
41	G Gambhir, V Kohli	205	India	v Sri Lanka	Mirpur	13-Mar-12
42	Inzamam-ul-Haq, Saleem Malik	204	Pakistan	v Sri Lanka	Rawalpindi	19-Jan-92
43	Q de Kock, HE van der Dussen	204	South Africa	v Sri Lanka	Delhi	7-Oct-23
44	MJ Guptill, WA Young	203	New Zealand	v Netherlands	Hamilton	4-Apr-22
45	GA Gooch, DI Gower	202	England	v Australia	Lord's	3-Jun-85
46	SC Ganguly, V Sehwag	202	India	v Bermuda	Port of Spain	19-Mar-07
47	WTS Porterfield, A Balbirnie	201	Ireland	v U.A.E.	ICCA Dubai	13-Jan-18
48	ML Hayden, RT Ponting	200	Australia	v New Zealand	Perth	28-Jan-07
49	TM Dilshan, KC Sangakkara	200	Sri Lanka	v India	Hobart	28-Feb-12
50	SR Taylor, MD Patel	200	U.S.A.	v Nepal	Pearland	11-Jun-22
51	Shubman Gill, SS Iyer	200	India	v Australia	Indore	24-Sep-23
52	Q de Kock, HE van der Dussen	200	South Africa	v New Zealand	Pune	1-Nov-23
53	SR Tendulkar, VVS Laxman	199	India	v Australia	Indore	31-Mar-01
54	V Sehwag, SK Raina	198	India	v Pakistan	Karachi	26-Jun-08
55	S Dhawan, V Kohli	197*	India	v Sri Lanka	Dambulla	20-Aug-17
56	BC Lara, PV Simmons	197	West Indies	v Pakistan	Durban	19-Feb-93
57	TM Dilshan, KC Sangakkara	195	Sri Lanka	v Scotland	Hobart	11-Mar-15
58	Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah	195	Afghanistan	v Zimbabwe	Harare	6-Jun-22
59	Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam	194*	Pakistan	v New Zealand	Bengaluru	4-Nov-23
60	HH Dippenaar, JH Kallis	194	South Africa	v West Indies	Bridgetown	11-May-05
61	SR Tendulkar, KD Karthik	194	India	v South Africa	Gwalior	24-Feb-10
62	AC Gilchrist, RT Ponting	193	Australia	v Pakistan	Lahore	10-Nov-98
63	HM Amla, AB de Villiers	192	South Africa	v West Indies	Johannesburg	18-Jan-15
64	AD Hales, JE Root	192	England	v West Indies	Bridgetown	9-Mar-17
65	DA Warner, UT Khawaja	192	Australia	v Bangladesh	Nottingham	20-Jun-19
66	Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam	190*	Pakistan	v Australia	Lahore	2-Apr-22
67	SR Tendulkar, VVS Laxman	190	India	v Australia	Gwalior	26-Oct-03
68	SR Watson, RT Ponting	190	Australia	v West Indies	St George's	29-Jun-08
69	JM Bairstow, JE Root	190	England	v New Zealand	Dunedin	7-Mar-18
70	Shubman Gill, V Kohli	189	India	v Sri Lanka	Wankhede	2-Nov-23
71	G Gambhir, MS Dhoni	188	India	v Sri Lanka	Colombo (RPS)	5-Feb-09
72	Mohammad Hafeez, Asad Shafiq	188	Pakistan	v Ireland	Dublin	23-May-13
73	CH Gayle, RR Sarwan	187	West Indies	v England	Lord's	6-Jul-04
74	GC Smith, HH Gibbs	187	South Africa	v Australia	Johannesburg	12-Mar-06
75	RG Sharma, V Kohli	186*	India	v Australia	Jaipur	16-Oct-13
76	GR Marsh, DM Jones	185	Australia	v England	Brisbane	16-Dec-90
77	ME Trescothick, N Hussain	185	England	v India	Lord's	13-Jul-02
78	HM Amla, RR Rossouw	185	South Africa	v New Zealand	Centurion	19-Aug-15
79	DL Haynes, HA Gomes	184	West Indies	v New Zealand	Bridgetown	23-Apr-85
80	TM Dilshan, KC Sangakkara	184	Sri Lanka	v South Africa	Pallekele	28-Jul-13
81	KR Mayers, SSJ Brooks	184	West Indies	v Netherlands	Amstelveen	4-Jun-22
82	PR Stirling, A Balbirnie	184	Ireland	v U.A.E.	Bulawayo	27-Jun-23
83	AJ Finch, SPD Smith	182	Australia	v India	Sydney	26-Mar-15
84	DP Conway, KS Williamson	181	New Zealand	v Pakistan	Karachi	11-Jan-23
85	SR Tendulkar, R Dravid	180	India	v Zimbabwe	Bulawayo	26-Sep-98
86	SR Tendulkar, R Dravid	180	India	v South Africa	Nagpur	19-Mar-00
87	Chirag Suri, V Aravind	180	U.A.E.	v Oman	Al Amerat	5-Feb-22
88	R Ravindra, KS Williamson	180	New Zealand	v Pakistan	Bengaluru	4-Nov-23
89	SC Ganguly, RR Singh	179	India	v Pakistan	Dhaka	18-Jan-98
90	HH Gibbs, JH Kallis	179	South Africa	v West Indies	St John's	2-May-01
91	Salman Butt, Younis Khan	179	Pakistan	v Bangladesh	Karachi	19-Apr-08
92	CS MacLeod, HJW Gardiner	179	Scotland	v Ireland	Dublin (Malahide)	12-Sep-14
93	KS Williamson, NT Broom	179	New Zealand	v Bangladesh	Nelson	31-Dec-16
94	HH Gibbs, JH Kallis	178*	South Africa	v India	Colombo (RPS)	25-Sep-02
95	ML Hayden, RT Ponting	178*	Australia	v Sri Lanka	Melbourne	21-Jan-03
96	RG Sharma, V Kohli	178*	India	v Bangladesh	Birmingham	15-Jun-17
97	GR Marsh, DM Jones	178	Australia	v England	Brisbane	18-Jan-87
98	WW Hinds, BC Lara	178	West Indies	v Australia	Port of Spain	25-May-03
99	AN Cook, IR Bell	178	England	v India	Southampton	21-Aug-07
100	B Zuiderent, RN ten Doeschate	177	Netherlands	v Bermuda	Nairobi (Ruaraka)	4-Feb-07

Data Source: ESPN Cricinfo