5 top South African Test opening pairs of all time
Despite missing out on International cricket for nearly 22 years, South Africa have been one of the most successful teams in Test cricket. And we have seen some outstanding cricketers represent the Rainbow Nation.
South Africa have also had some very good openers and some of those openers have combined together and formed a very successful pair. Here we look at the top 5 opening pairs for South Africa in Test cricket.
#5 Graeme Smith and Alviro Petersen (2010-2014)
Graeme Smith and Alviro Petersen were one of the best opening pairs for South Africa in the second decade of the 21st century. After Herschelle Gibbs (in 2008) and Neil McKenzie (in 2009) were dropped due to poor form, Smith didn’t have a settled opening partner and Petersen filled into that role very well.
He scored a century on his debut against India in 2010 in Kolkata, but failed to build on to the solid start and was dropped in the following year. However, he came back strongly in January 2012 and cemented his spot. Petersen formed a solid opening combination with his Test skipper. Smith and Petersen opened the batting in 52 innings and scored 2113 runs (third-most for any South African opening pair). They have 6-century stands– with their highest being 153 which came against Pakistan at Abu Dhabi. The 138 which came in the first innings of the famous Adelaide Test was also a brilliant partnership as it helped the Proteas set up a foundation in the first innings.
