T20 World Cup: A T20 match is a batting-dominated game, and batters go hard at the bowlers throughout the match. But what happens when the team loses its first five wickets early? It is very difficult for the team to recover from that position. And if that happens in the World Cup event, the pressure never allows them to recover from that stage. Because batters batting at No. 6 and 7 hardly get a chance to settle in and play.
Usually, we see these batters play to add quick runs down the order. But their role is not that easy. Sometimes, they also have to make a good partnership to help their team get out of a losing situation. And a good sixth-wicket partnership is always a game changer. So, in this article, we will discuss the top ten highest sixth-wicket partnerships in the T20 World Cup.
1. Mike Hussey and Craig White (101*) against Sri Lanka in the T20 World Cup 2010
The first and only instance of a 100-run partnership for the 6th wicket came in the 2010 World Cup match between Australia and Sri Lanka. After winning the toss, the Aussies chose to bat first. However, they didn’t have a good start, and half the team got out for just 67 runs, and Sri Lanka were all over them. But they had great depth in their batting. Cameron White and Michael Hussy joined the crease and started playing aggressively.
Both batters took on the bowlers and added an unbeaten 101 runs for the sixth wicket to help Australia reach 168/5 in their 20 overs. White scored an unbeaten 85 and Hussey was unbeaten on 39. They added 101 runs off just 54 balls. Chasing the target, Sri Lanka didn’t look in the game and got all out for 87 runs, handing Australia a victory by 81 runs.
2. Craig McMillan and Jacob Oram (73) against India in the T20 World Cup 2007
The second highest partnership came in the inaugural edition of the event in 2007. This was the 13th match of the tournament between India and New Zealand. Batting first, the Black Caps lost their first five wickets at 91, and that brought two all-rounders to the crease. Jacob Oram and Craig McMillan started the partnership slowly but picked up the pace after one or two shots. Both batters took New Zealand out of the sinkhole and added 73 runs for the 6th wicket.
That partnership helped the Black Caps post a big total of 190, and that proved to be the winning total in the end. Despite a good start from both openers, India lost the momentum in the middle and fell short by 10 runs. That 6th wicket partnership proved to be the match-winning one.
3.Dwayne Bravo and Darren Sammy (71) against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup 2014
This was the 32nd match of the 2014 World Cup between West Indies and Pakistan at Mirpur. West Indies won the toss and batted first. But they didn’t start well and lost half their batting lineup for just 81 runs. That brought Dwayne Bravo (46) and skipper Darren Sammy (42) to the crease. Both players are naturally aggressive batsmen, and that is how they started playing.
They started scoring runs quickly with boundaries. Both batsmen added a vital 71 runs for the 6th wicket to help their team reach a decent total of 166 runs. In the end, it proved to be a match-winning total as, chasing the target, Pakistan lost wickets at regular intervals and were all out for just 82 runs. The West Indies won that match by 84 runs.
T20 World Cup Highest Sixth Wicket Partnership List
| Batters | Partnership | Against | Venue | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Hussey and Craig White (Australia) | 101* | Sri Lanka | Bridgetown | 2010 |
| Craig McMillan and Jacob Oram (New Zealand) | 73 | India | Johannesburg | 2007 |
| Dwayne Bravo and Darren Sammy (West Indies) | 71 | Pakistan | Dhaka | 2014 |
| Mark Boucher and Albie Morkel (South Africa) | 69 | India | Durban | 2007 |
| MS Dhoni and Yousuf Pathan (India) | 63* | England | Lord’s | 2009 |
| F Behardien and Robin Peterson (South Africa) | 60* | Australia | Colombo | 2012 |
| E Chigumbura and T Maruma (Zimbabwe) | 55* | UAE | Sylhet | 2014 |
| Mudassar Bukhari and TLW Cooper (Netherlands) | 53* | Zimbabwe | Sylhet | 2014 |
| J Faulkner and Brad Hodge (Australia) | 52 | West Indies | Dhaka | 2014 |
| T. Dilshan and J Mubarak (Sri Lanka) | 51* | Sri Lanka | Johannesburg | 2007 |
Highest T20 World Cup Partnership by Wicket
| Overall | 1st Wicket | 2nd Wicket |
| 3rd Wicket | 4th Wicket | 5th Wicket |
| 6th Wicket | 7th Wicket | 8th Wicket |
| 9th Wicket | 10th Wicket |