Lowest ‘highest’ opening partnership in a Test series

The three- Test series between India and Sri Lanka had three centuries from openers but the highest opening stand was a mere 15. Bharath Seervi lists series where opening partnerships failed miserably.

Opening partnerships typically form the base for big team innings. Seeing the new ball off was a role openers have executed over years, but these days they are expected to score big and quick as well. Unfortunately, there have been occasions when opening partnerships have failed throughout a series, mostly because partnerships are formed between two individuals. In recent India’s tour to Sri Lanka, the Indian openers scored at least one hundred in each of the three Tests, but their highest opening partnership was a mere 14. The Sri Lankan openers scored a few fifties, but their best was 15.

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There has been no earlier series where none of the opening partnership was of more than 20. Thus, the India vs Sri Lanka series has a new lowest ‘highest’ opening partnership in a series of three or more matches — 15.

Both teams failing out on a good opening stand is not common. The most innings that can be played in a three-Test series is 12. The India vs Sri Lanka series, too, saw 12 opening stands. The 15 put up in the first innings of the series remained the highest. In fact, only four times did the bowlers fail to pick up the first wicket of the opposition team for less than 10 runs. The opening partnerships of the series were 15, 14, 0 and 12 at Galle; 4, 1, 3 and 8 at P Sara; and 2, 11, 0 and 1 at SSC. Statistical roundup of Cheteshwar Pujara and others carrying bat through completed Test innings

Lowest ‘highest’ opening partnership in a Test series of three or more matches (40 or less runs)

–          Barring the recently concluded India vs Sri Lanka series, all others began before 2000.

Since 2000, there have been only four series of three or more Tests was not even a single opening partnership exceeded 50.

Series of three or more Tests without a single 50-run opening partnership since 2000

–          In the 1999-00 Border-Gavaskar Trophy the highest opening partnership was a mere 22. The series started on December 10, 1999, and is not listed in the table above.

Sri Lanka and India had the highest opening partnership of just 15 and 14 runs respectively. The lowest ‘highest’ opening partnership for a team in a series of three or more Tests is 2 for England against South Africa in 1895-96. England played four innings in that series, the highest being a mere 2; they still won all three Tests of the series. The table below lists details of other such teams and series.

Lowest ‘highest’ opening partnership for a team in a series of three or more Tests (15 or fewer runs)

–          Five of these instances have come since 2000.

The lowest ‘highest’ opening partnership in a series of 5 or more Tests is 53 in Ashes 1936-37 that Australia won by 3-2 under Don Bradman — after losing the first two Tests. Ishant Sharma has best bowling figures by Indian pacer in Test matches in four away countries

(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)