In cricket, at a given point of time, the batting side must have two batters on the crease at either end of the pitch. The batter who faces the delivery is the strike batter whereas the one at the other hand is the non-striker. Both batters are tasked with scoring runs for their team. They do so by rotating strike between them through running across the pitch and thus ensuring that the scoreboard keeps ticking.
The task of batters is not an easy one. They need to score these runs while simultaneously ensuring that they avoid getting dismissed by the bowlers. Bowling has changed in the modern era wherein their skills of spin and pace across various lines and lengths. They are assisted by the fielders who too have upgraded their athletic abilities.
The amount of runs that two batters score without being dismissed adds to their batting partnership. Batting partnerships are crucial as longer the two batters bat, the more runs they score as they get acquainted to the conditions better. When a team gets two or three long partnerships it often ensures that they are likely to get a competitive total.
When two batters put on a partnership of 50 runs, it is referred as a half-century stand between the two batters. A century-stand is when the two batters cumulatively put on a score of 100 runs.
As of 2025, in men’s cricket, the highest partnership in test cricket was recorded by Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene who scored 624 runs against South Africa. In men’s One Day International cricket a stand of 372 runs between Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels against Zimbabwe remains a record. In T20 Internationals, among test playing nations, Usman Ghani and Hazratullah Zazai’s partnership of 236 runs against Ireland is the highest.
In 1987, Australia’s Lindsay Reeler and Denise Annetts recorded a partnership of 309 runs against England which remains a record in women’s tests. Deepti Sharma and Punam Raut’s partnership of 320 runs against Ireland is the highest in women’s One Day Internationals. New Zealand’s Suzie Bates and Sophie Devin have recorded a record 182-run partnership against South Africa in T20 Internationals which is the highest among women’s teams with a test status.
