Highest opening partnerships in ODIs

In cricket, it often becomes difficult to see the sport being played as a team one mostly owing to the usual singular focused nature of the course of play, despite that there are a few facades of the game where we get to see players crafting an identity of themselves as teams rather than individuals. One prime example of such coagulation is the opening pair. No two players in a side are closer to each other or are affected as much by another individual's performances on a given day.

They weather the bursts of big scary quicks together, they see each other's eyes light up at the welcome sight of a part timer and sometimes even do well enough to mask each other's technical vulnerabilities.

The partnership that epitomized everything that was novel about openers

More importantly, they are the pillars of a cricket side's batting as they hold complete responsibility in wresting the initial momentum of the game from the opposition.

As Fakhar Zaman and Imam ul Haq punished the helpless Zimbabwean bowlers all over the Queen Sports Club, they scaled the highest opening partnership in ODI history. Here is a look at the five best efforts by opening pairs in the format.

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#5 Upul Tharanga & Tillakaratne Dilshan: 282 v Zimbabwe, Pallekele

When they ground Zimbabwe into submission.

Tharanga and Dilshan's formidable pair at the helm of the innings was one of the highlights of Sri Lanka's largely successful World Cup campaign in 2011. Having known the conditions better than anyone else, they capitalized on the advantage by racking up two stands in excess of 200, with the record effort coming in the group stage match against Zimbabwe.

Batting first, they had Sri Lanka off to a flier and in the duration of the innings, they settled into their usual roles with Dilshan playing the aggressor, keeping the fielders on their toes at all times while Tharanga steadily accumulated runs without attracting much attention to his antics.

It took them just 97 balls to bring up the 100 run stand and the solid start meant that the tone was set for them to punish Zimbabwean bowlers, Dilshan's 144(131) and Tharanga's 133(141) meant that the tourists were always going to be struggling to get to the target, ultimately being handed defeat by 139 runs.

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