Partnerships punching above their weight

Before the Lord's Test between England and Pakistan was mired in scandal, it was memorable for one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Tests: England, floundering at 102 for 7, were rescued by Jonathan Trott and an unlikely ally, Stuart Broad. Both batsmen scored substantial centuries and their eighth-wicket partnership of 332 was 74.43% of England total of 446, which is a remarkably high percentage for a lower-order stand. So this week, we've dug up lists of partnerships for each wicket that formed a disproportionately large percentage of the total.

First wicket
Sherwin Campbell and Adrian Griffith batted for nearly the whole of the opening day against New Zealand in 1999, adding 276 for the first wicket, but incredibly West Indies still lost in Hamilton. Campbell was dismissed late on the first day and, on the second, West Indies folded for 365 in the first innings - the other nine partnerships making up only 24.40% of the total, compared to the 75.60% from the first. Campbell and Griffith's effort was 90 runs more than the total of West Indies' other 19 partnerships in the match, only the second such occurrence at the time, after the Lord's Test in 1896. Their's was also the second-highest opening stand in a Test defeat, after the 283-run association between Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe in an 81-run loss at the MCG.

Second wicket
West Indies have been dismissed for less than 100 in both innings of a Test only once - at The Oval in 1957. They were 7 for 1 in the first innings but were steadied by a partnership of 61 between Garry Sobers and Nyron Asgarali. Once Asgarali was dismissed, however, wickets tumbled on a surface that aided England's spinners Tony Lock and Jim Laker. The partnership between Sobers and Asgarali was 68.50% of West Indies' total of 89. In the second innings, they were shot out for 86 and slumped to defeat by an innings and 237 runs - their largest defeat until 2007.

Third wicket
No partnership has contributed a greater proportion to a team's completed innings than the 168-run stand between Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara at Kingsmead in 2000, which began after Sri Lanka were 2 for 2. It formed 77.70% of Sri Lanka's first-innings total of 216 after the last eight wickets fell for 46 runs in 20 overs. South Africa did not enforce the follow-on and Sri Lanka eventually escaped with a draw largely because the fourth day was lost to rain. Sri Lanka haven't been back to Durban for a Test since.

Fourth wicket
The only victory when the fourth-wicket partnership contributed an especially large percentage of the score came in the seventh Test, a timeless match at the SCG in 1882. Australia were 16 for 3 in response to England's 188 when Charles Bannerman and Percy McDonnell began their 199-run association. Bannerman made 70, McDonnell 147 and no one else got past single digits. They led Australia to a 74-run lead, which proved valuable in securing a six-wicket victory.

Fifth wicket
When was the last time West Indies beat Australia by a ten-wicket margin? In 1999, at Sabina Park, when Brian Lara scored one of the game's great double-centuries. Fourteen wickets fell on the first day, 14 fell on the third day, but none fell on the second, when Lara entertained in the company of Jimmy Adams. It was Lara's first Test hundred since June 1997, and he and Adams lifted West Indies from 36 for 4 with a 322-run partnership, a West Indian record, that earned a first-innings lead of 175. Australia were skittled for 177, leaving West Indies with a target of 3.

Sixth wicket
The Ashes Test at the MCG in 1937 was an odd match. Don Bradman made an unusual move of declaring in the first innings of a timeless Test (200 for 9), and when England did likewise on 76 for 9, it was the first instance of both teams declaring their first innings in a Test. In Australia's second innings, Bradman reversed the batting order to protect his specialists on a pitch Wisden called a "glue pot". He and Jack Fingleton would have normally had a second-wicket partnership, but instead they were batting for the sixth. They began with Australia on 93 for 5 and by the time Fingleton fell, the score was 443. Their partnership of 346 was 61.30% of Australia's match-winning score of 564.

Seventh wicket
West Indies were in strife against Australia at the Kensington Oval in 1955. In response to the visitors' 668, West Indies had slumped to 147 for 6 and ended the third day with Denis Atkinson, the captain, and wicketkeeper Clairmonte Depeiaza at the crease. Neither batsman had ever scored a Test hundred but they chose this occasion to do so. Atkinson and Depeiaza batted through the entire fourth day and amassed 347 runs for the seventh wicket (68% of the total of 510). Neither batsmen scored a Test century again but this effort helped save the Test. Atkinson had batted for nearly six hours for his 219 to go with his 84.2 overs in the Test.

Eighth wicket
Nasser Hussain's first Test as captain needed an eighth-wicket stand between Andy Caddick and Alex Tudor to steer England's first-innings score past 100 at Edgbaston. They added 70, 55.50% of England's 126, their lowest total at home against New Zealand. Having conceded a lead of 100, Caddick then cut through New Zealand's second innings on a dramatic second day, on which 21 wickets fell. The last was that of Alec Stewart, as England were chasing 208 for victory. Tudor was sent in as night-watchman and he took control of the chase on the third morning, remaining unbeaten on 99 as England won by seven wickets.

Ninth wicket
The two highest partnerships for the ninth wicket feature in the table below. The record was held by Asif Iqbal and Intikhab Alam who aded 190 to lift Pakistan from 65 for 8 to 255 against England at The Oval in 1967. The partnership contributed 74.5% of Pakistan's second innings total. That record was broken in 1998 when Mark Boucher and Pat Symcox added 195 against Pakistan in Johannesburg, but that partnership was only 53.5% of South Africa's 364 against Pakistan.

Tenth wicket
Australia's six-run victory in the timeless Sydney Test in 1885 was made possible by a remarkable last-wicket stand in their first innings. They were 101 for 1 when Nos. 10 and 11, Tom Garrett and Edwin Evans, scored 51 not out and 33 and added 80 for the last wicket. Australia took a lead of 48 and eventually set England a target of 214, which was just enough.

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