Duckett-Crawley shatter opening partnership records in Oval Test: Key stats
What's the story
England duo of Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley have made history by becoming the first-ever opening pair in Test cricket to score nine 50-plus run partnerships against India. The record-breaking moment came during the ongoing fifth Test at The Oval. Duckett and Crawley added 50 runs for the first wicket in the fourth innings on Saturday before the latter was dismissed. The duo also completed 2,500 partnership runs with this stand.
Record broken
Duckett, Crawley surpass legends
The duo's achievement has eclipsed the previous record held by West Indies legends Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes. The Caribbean pair had added at least 50 runs for the first wicket against India eight times in 30 innings. Having opened together across 19 Test innings against India, the duo has accumulated 1,034 runs at 54.42, as per ESPNcricinfo. This includes two century and seven half-century stands.
Milestone reached
Second opening pair with this record
Duckett and Crawley also became only the second opening pair in Test cricket history to score over 1,000 partnership runs against India. They joined Greenidge and Haynes, who stitched 1,325 runs while opening against India. In their record-breaking innings, Crawley faced 36 balls and scored 14 runs before being dismissed by Mohammed Siraj. Duckett (34*) returned unbeaten. The duo yielded exactly 50 runs in the fourth innings as England are chasing a 374-run target.
Partnership
Sixth England opening pair with this feat
Duckett and Crawley, en route to their latest partnership, also became the sixth England opening pair to yield 2,500 Test runs. Duckett and Crawley have opened for England across 55 innings as a pair in Test cricket. They have added 2,511 runs in these innings though their partnership average of 46.50 is the second-worst among England opening pairs with at least 2,000 Test runs.
Information
The English duo is way above their peers
It must be noted that no other opening pair has even added 1,300 Test runs since Duckett and Crawley opened for the first time together in Tests. India's Yashasvi Jaiswal-Rohit Sharma (1,269) and New Zealand's Devon Conway-Tom Latham (1,030) are the only other opening pairs with 1,000-plus partnership runs in this period.
Dissection
19 50-plus stands
The Duckett-Crawley partnership has yielded 19 50-plus stands in Tests, including five century partnerships. Four of their partnerships have crossed the 160-run mark. This also includes a couple of double-century stands. Meanwhile, England's 2022 Rawalpindi Test against Pakistan, which got underway on December 1, saw Duckett and Crawley open together for the first time in Tests. Both batters made tons in the first innings and added 233 runs - their highest partnership to date.
Run rate
Do you know?
Duckett and Crawley have yielded their runs at a rate of 5.00 runs per over. This is the third-best run rate among opening pairs with 2,000-plus partnership runs. They are only behind Pakistan's Mohsin Khan-Mudassar Nazar (5.73) and England's Jack Hobbs-Wilfred Rhodes (5.07) in this regard.
Home stats
Numbers are even stellar at home
1,366 of the Duckett-Crawley partnership runs have come at home at an even better average of 56.91. The other 1,145 runs have come away from home (away and neutral venues combined) at 38.16. Only one of their five century partnerships has come outside England, in Pakistan. However, their run rates in home (4.98) and away from home (5.02) Tests are the second-best among opening pairs with 1,000-plus runs in both categories.