From 6 for 1 to 324 for 1 at breakneck speed

In last week's column we looked at partnerships that revived innings after the loss of early wickets in Tests. This week, we've done the one-day international version using the same definition for a collapse: instances when a team lost its first wicket for less than ten, two wickets for less than 20, three for less than 30 and so on.

Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly - 318 v Sri Lanka, Taunton, 1999
Only twice in one-day internationals have there been partnerships of over 300 and Dravid was involved in both. His first was against Sri Lanka during the 1999 World Cup, when he joined Ganguly in the first over with India on 6 for 1. They proceeded to plunder a wayward bowling attack, taking advantage of the short boundaries at the County Ground to hit 17 fours each, although the sixes tally was 7-1 in Ganguly's favour. Dravid's century came at close to a run-a-ball, Ganguly's took 119 deliveries. However, Ganguly cut loose after his hundred and scored his next 83 runs off only 39 balls. His 183 was the second-highest score in World Cups, and India's 373 for 6 was the second-highest total . The contest ended after Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharna were dismissed in the first five overs of Sri Lanka's chase.

Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag - 201 v Pakistan, Kochi, 2005
Pakistan were riding high after drawing the Test series and had India down at 4 for 2 in the first one-dayer. It could have been worse for India but Sehwag was dropped off the first ball of the innings and once again when he was on 8. He made use of those reprieves and, with Dravid, helped India recover, reaching his half-century off 55 balls. His second fifty, however, took only 29 and he finished with 108 off 95 balls with three sixes and nine fours. Dravid's hundred was more sedate, his 104 took 139 balls. Their 201-run stand was a record against Pakistan for the third wicket and it helped post a match-winning total of 281.

Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds - 237 v Sri Lanka, Sydney, 2006
Australia's 14-year old grip on their tri-series trophy was weakening. They had lost the first of the best-of-three finals and were reeling at 10 for 3 by the third over of the second. The challenge to salvage the innings lay with Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds and they launched a stunning counter-attack. Both faced 127 balls and hit three sixes each, but while Ponting scored a smooth 124, Symonds plundered 151. Their partnership of 237 was a national record for any wicket and it lifted the total to 368, Australia's highest at the time. Muttiah Muralitharan was hammered for 0 for 99, which were the most expensive figures for a ten-over spell then.

Michael Bevan and Stuart Law - 138 v West Indies, Mohali, 1996
The semi-final between Australia and West Indies in the 1996 World Cup is best remembered for the dramatic collapse: West Indies lost eight wickets for 37 runs and Australia progressed to the final. Bevan and Law's rescue act earlier in the match has virtually been forgotten. Australia, having chosen to bat on a grassy pitch, were struggling at 15 for 4 courtesy Curtly Ambrose and Ian Bishop. Bevan and Law breathed life into the innings with a patient 138-run stand that spanned 32 overs. Law made 72, Bevan 69, and Australia's eventual margin of victory was only five runs.

Paul Collingwood and Geraint Jones - 116 v Australia, Lord's, 2005
A sixth-wicket partnership of 54 had helped Australia limp to 196 in the NatWest series final but that total seemed enough when England lost their top five batsmen for 33 runs. Collingwood and Jones started the rebuilding process. They scratched around and then steadily accumulated, taking England to 149 before Collingwood was run out with 48 to get off 39 balls. Jones fell soon after but their hard work wasn't futile. Only just, though, for a misfield by Brett Lee on the final ball allowed the batsmen to scamper a second run to tie the match.

Jacob Oram and Daniel Vettori - 103 v Australia, Mohali, 2006
Australia had scored 240 for 9 on a testing pitch in Mohali and seemed certain to secure their first berth in a Champions Trophy final after they reduced New Zealand to 35 for 6. Then they came up against unexpected resistance: Oram and Vettori, who was dropped on 5 by Michael Hussey, combined for the seventh wicket and got on top of the bowling as the seam movement gradually lessened. The runs came quickly and the partnership had reached 103 when Oram was stumped off Symonds for 43. Vettori reached 79, his second-highest ODI score, before he was bowled with New Zealand 60 runs away from victory. They were bowled out in 46 overs, 34 runs short of the target.

Ricardo Powell and Corey Collymore - 84 v India, Toronto, 1999
The West Indian record for the eighth-wicket partnership is a partnership in name only for one man scored 90% of the runs while the other contributed only 2% (extras made up the difference). Powell's ODI career fizzled out after an explosive start, but for a short while he tormented the Indian bowlers. A week earlier he had hammered 123 off 93 balls against them in Singapore. In Toronto the situation was extremely different: chasing 226, West Indies had slipped to 52 for 7 in the 18th over and Powell had Collymore for company. Powell went on to score 76 off 73 balls with ten boundaries, including seven sixes, and added 84 for the eighth wicket. However, he fell with the score on 136 and the innings folded soon after.

Irfan Pathan and Jai P Yadav - 118 v New Zealand, Bulawayo, 2005
Shane Bond's opening spell of 5 for 13 sent India crashing to 44 for 8 in pursuit of 216, and humiliating defeat seemed only moments away. However, 118 runs and 33 overs later, India began to dream of a great escape. Yadav, who was playing his second ODI innings, and Pathan took advantage of New Zealand's weak support bowlers and stitched together only the second century partnership for the eighth wicket in ODIs. The first was also between two Indians, Kapil Dev and Syed Kirmani, during the famous fightback against Zimbabwe at Tunbridge Wells in 1983. Bond returned to dash India's hopes, though, dismissing Pathan for 50, and finished with figures of 6 for 23. Yadav fell soon after for 69, the highest score by a No. 9 batsman in ODIs.

Shoaib Akhtar and Saqlain Mushtaq - 54 v England, Cape Town, 2003
Shoaib blazed towards his career best, smashing 43 off 16 balls, with five fours and three sixes, in a partnership of 54 with Saqlain in the 2003 World Cup. The stand, however, only delayed Pakistan's crushing defeat. They were chasing 247 and were in tatters at 80 for 9. The last-wicket resistance only served to push the total past 100.

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