Travis Head finally returned to form in the third and final ODI against South Africa as he and Mitchell Marsh added a staggering 250 runs for the opening wicket. In the process, they also created multiple records, even as Head got out after scoring 142 runs off 103 balls.
Australia batters finally found the going easy today in the third and final ODI against South Africa. After winning the toss, their openers, Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh, plundered the under-strength bowling attack of the visitors to smash records for fun. The duo added a staggering 250 runs for the opening wicket, just falling short of the all-time record for Australia by 34 runs.ย The 250-run partnership is the highest ever opening stand against South Africa as the Marsh-Head duo broke the 22-year-old record.
Vikram Solanki and Marcus Trescothick of England had notched up 200 runs together for the first wicket against and before that, the Indian duo of Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar added 193 as openers in 2001 against South Africa.
Highest opening stand vs South Africa in ODIs
250 – T Head & M Marsh (AUS), Mackay, 2025
200 – V Solanki & M Trescothick (ENG), The Oval, 2003
193 – S Ganguly & S Tendulkar (IND), Joโburg, 2001
193 – S Chanderpaul & C Gayle (WI), Joโburg, 2004
Overall, this is the fifth-highest opening partnership for Australia in ODI cricket and the first with David Warner not involved in it. Notably, Head is involved for the third time in an opening partnership of 250 or more in ODIs for Australia.ย David Warner and Travis Head added 284 runs for the opening wicket for the World Champions back in 2017 against Pakistan in Adelaide.
Highest opening partnerships for Australia in ODIs
284 – Travis Head & David Warner vs PAK, Adelaide, 2017
269 – Travis Head & David Warner vs ENG, Melbourne, 2022
259 – Mitch Marsh & David Warner vs PAK, Bengaluru, 2022
258* – Aaron Finch & David Warner vs IND, Wankhede, 2020
250 – Travis Head & Mitch Marsh vs SA, Mackay, 2025*
Head and Marsh smash centuries during record opening stand
Coming back to the opening partnership between Head and Marsh, both players notched up their respective centuries. The former scored 142 runs off just 103 balls while the Aussie captain got out exactly on 100. This is the 8th time both Australian openers have smacked a century in the same innings in the 50-over format.
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