Cricket being a team sport that it is, partnerships are always an important aspect of the game that can impinge the upshot of the match comprehensively. May it be a batting or a bowling partnership, two players joining forces has always dealt a significant hand in helping a team to determine the fate of a game.
Indian Premier League being the batsman’s game as it had always been a podium of amazing partnerships between two batsmen. We will look at the highest partnerships for each position in the cash-rich domestic Indian extravaganza.
Openers: Johnny Bairstow and Dave Warner – 185 runs
In a battle of one-sided dominance, Sunriser Hyderabad spread-eagled Royal Challengers Bangalore without breaking a sweat. Johnny Bairstow of England and Dave Warner of Australia combined together at the top of the innings to mount a monumental stand of 185 runs together before Bairstow was finally dismissed by Chahal.
Warner stayed unbeaten until the end as he went on to score 100 from 55 balls, smashing 5 fours and 5 sixes. Bairstow racked up 114 from 56 deliveries as he went on to club 12 fours and 7 sixes to reach his total. The Hyderabad bowlers made quick work of Bangalore as they were bundled out for 113 runs in response to SRH’s 231.
2nd wicket: Virat Kohli and Abraham Benjamin De Villiers – 229 runs
Dhawal Kulkarni silenced the Bangalore crowd with an absolute ripper that claimed Chris Gayle early in the innings. However, that was just the beginning of the end for the Gujrat Lions as Kohli and ABD combined and started dispersing the bowlers into every single corner of the park.
Kohli smashed 109 from 55 balls before finally getting out to Praveen Kumar while ABD carried on with the onslaught. Kohli and De Villiers stitched together a stand of 229 runs for the second wicket that saw the duo hammering 15 boundaries and 20 over boundaries. The Lions were skittled out for a paltry 104 in response to Bangalore’s 248.
3rd wicket: Cameron White and Kumara Sangakkara – 157 runs
In a closely contested encounter between Deccan Chargers and Pune Warriors, Cameron White and Sangakkara joined forces for the 3rd wicket and posted a monumental stand of 157 runs that saw the Chargers cruise to 180 before Nehra rattled the Sri Lankan wicket keeper’s timber. The duo shared 14 boundaries and 6 over boundaries.
White racked up 74 from 45 deliveries while Sanga notched up 82 from 52 balls. Pune tried hard to cross the finishing line as Saurav Ganguly, Michael Clarke and Steven Smith fought tooth and nail to bring Pune closer but couldn’t strike the telling blow.
4th wicket: Shimron Hetmeyer and Gurkeerat Singh – 144 runs
Chasing a stiff 176 to win, Bangalore was crippled early in the innings as Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Khaleel Ahmed reduced the hosts to 20 for 3. Hetmeyer and Gurkeerat started with the initial overhaul and after weathering the initial storm, they started firing on all cylinders as the duo posted together 144 runs that put them in inching distance of victory before both Gurkeerat and Hetmeyer was dismissed in quick succession.
Despite the dismissal of the set batsmen induced some hope in the hearts of the visitors, Umesh Yadav crushed it with zero mercy as he sliced two boundaries on the trot to take Bangalore home. Singh scored 65 from 48 balls, striking 8 fours and 1 six while Hetmeyer scored 75 from 47, rattling 4 boundaries and 8 sixes.
5th wicket: Shakib Al Hasan and Yusuf Pathan – 134* runs
After Praveen Kumar struck early to leave the cream of KKR’s batting removed, it all fell on Shakib and Pathan to stabilize the ship. The duo took their time and started with their blitzkrieg, combining to amass 134 runs for the 5th wicket as KKR somehow managed to post 158. Pathan scored 63 from 41 balls while Hasan scored 66 from 49 balls.
The effort from the duo wasn’t really enough as Kartik’s half-century guided Gujrat home alongside a few cameos from others.
6th wicket: Kieron Pollard and Ambati Rayudu – 122* runs
As Mayank Agarwal forgot gravity that saw him raining sixes on the Mumbai Indians towards the end, Mumbai was left wobbling chasing 172 runs. However, things turned extremely nasty for the Indians as the Bangalore bowlers made quick work of Mumbai’s top order, leaving them fazed at 51 for 5.
That is when Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard came together and carved out an unbeaten partnership of 122 runs to deliver Mumbai Indians out of the ordeal. Rayudu garnered 81 from 54 balls while Pollard smashed 52 runs from 31 balls. The duo smashed 11 boundaries and 7 over-boundaries.
7th wicket: Jagadeesha Suchith and Harbhajan Singh – 100 runs
Batting first Kings XI posted 177 for 5, thanks to some carnage from George Bailey. Mumbai’s start was not just slow but absolutely abysmal as they kept on losing wickets at regular intervals.
Reduced to 59 for 6 from 13.4 overs, a 100 looked doubtful for the Indians. However, the man who made all the difference in the world was a full-blown rebellion from Harbhajan Singh in the end as the turbanator smoked the bowlers for 64 runs off the 24 deliveries. Suchith played the anchor to the innings with 34 from 21 balls. Despite the duo posting 100 runs for the 7th wicket, it wasn’t enough for the Indians to win the match.
8th wicket: Brad Hodge and James Faulkner – 69 runs
This was another tale of a lost battle as Hodge and Faulkner fought tooth and nail to save the blushes of humiliation in the first place and then attempted to go for a victory but finally came a cropper when Santokie removed Hodge.
Hodgie managed to score 40 from 30 balls while Faulkner stayed unbeaten on 31 from 21 deliveries, pushing the team to a respectable total, falling short of the target by 25 runs.
9th wicket: Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ravichandran Ashwin / Dwayne Bravo and Imran Tahir – 41* runs
There is a joint winner for this position’s partnership as Dhoni and Ashwin fought until the end with the Indian wicket-keeper doing the majority in those 41 runs shared. It was Ashwin who finally fell scoring 9 runs.
The second partnership that played out a similar feat was the duo of Dwayne Bravo and Imran Tahir pulled off a miraculous stand for the 9th wicked before an injured Kedhar Jadhav returned to the crease to seal off a thriller for Chennai.
10th wicket: Siddharth Trivedi and Munaf Patel / Andre Russell and Harry Gurney – 29* runs
Once again the partnership for the last wicket is a joint victor as Trivedi and Munaf Patel stitched together 29 runs that saved them the blushes of humiliation but not a defeat.
Andre Russell and harry Gurney fought until the last ball of the innings to post 29 runs, where the West Indian hard-hitter managed to complete his half-century, thanks to some phenomenal batting in the end.
