Highest identical scores by both openers in Tests, ODIs and T20Is

Guptill and Williamson’s 42 is the second-highest identical score by both openers in the same T20I.

In the first T20 International (T20I) between South Africa and New Zealand at Kingsmead, Durban on August 14, 2015 both Kiwi openers were out for identical scores. Bharath Seervi lists the highest identical by both openers in Tests, ODIs and T20Is.

New Zealand openers Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson scored 42 runs each South Africa in the first T20I at Kingsmead on August 14, 2015. New Zealand scored 151 for 8 in their 20 overs, which was quite comfortably chased by South Africa in the 18th over with six wickets in hand.

Guptill and Williamson’s 42 is the second-highest identical score by both openers in the same T20I. The highest remains 73 by the Kamran Akmal and Salman Butt against Bangladesh at Gros Islet in 2010 World T20. There are no other identical scores of above 50 by both openers of a team in a T20I match. Ravichandran Ashwin’s 6 for 46: Best bowling figures for India in Sri Lanka

The table below lists the top five identical scores by both openers of a team in a T20I match.

Highest identical scores by both openers of a team in a T20I

–          Barring Guptill and Williamson’s 42 all the other four have come in ICC World T20 matches.

Now that we have a reason, let us see similar stats in the other two formats of the game as well – ODIs and Tests.

The highest identical score by both openers of a team in an ODI is 72 by Desmond Haynes and Richie Richardson for West Indies against Kenya at Sharjah in 1985-86. There are nine instances of both the openers scoring identical 50+ scores. They are listed in the table below. Dinesh Chandimal: Fastest wicketkeeper to 1,000 Test runs

Highest identical scores by both openers of a team in an ODI

–          Both John Dyson and Allan Border were run out for 54 against England at MCG in 1982-83.

–          There is no instance of both openers getting out on 49. However, Brenton Parchment and Sewnarine Chattergoon against South Africa at Kingsmead in 2007-08.

Let us now list similar instances in Tests. The highest is 88 by Shane Watson and Phillip Hughes for Australia against South Africa at New Wanderers in 2011-12. There are only five more identical scores in excess of 50 by both openers in tests. They are listed below. Virat Kohli scores four centuries in his first four Tests as captain

Highest identical score by both openers of a team in the same innings of a Test match

–          There is no instance of both openers getting out for identical scores between 45 and 49 in Tests. The nearest below 50 is 44 each by Kepler Wessels and John Dyson for Australia against England at Adelaide Oval in Ashes 1982-83.

Of course, there are many lower identical scores for both openers for a team in an innings. There are 51 instances of both openers getting out for ducks in Tests, 37 in ODIs and 8 in T20Is.

The highest identical score by both openers of a team in the same innings in a First-Class match is 150 by Tahir Shah and Sajid Ali for National Bank of Pakistan against Habib Bank Limited at Sahiwal in 1986-87. India vs Sri Lanka 2015, 1st Test at Galle: Statistical highlights

(Bharath Seervi is a cricket statistician who is obsessed with digging numbers, facts and records related to the game. An active member of Society of Cricket Statisticians of India, he blogs at www.cricketseervistats.blogspot.com. He can be followed on Twitter at @SeerviBharath and on Facebook here)

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