It was carnage in Bengaluru on Friday, October 20. David Warner and Mitchell Marsh decided it was time to cut loose, and the batting-friendly conditions and small M Chinnaswamy Stadium boundaries aided their cause against a hapless Pakistan in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. The Australian opening duo smashed sizzling centuries to notch up the second bigest opening stand in ODI World Cup history. Marsh and Warner's first-wicket partnership of 259 is second only to the 282 runs compiled by Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga against Zimbabwe in Pallekele during the 2011 ODI World Cup. (Innings Report | Scorecard | Full Coverage)
Warner and Marsh's stand was the sixth highest for any wicket in ODI World Cup history, with an epic 372-run partnership between Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels against Zimbabwe in 2015 occupying the top spot in the list. Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly's record 318-run Taunton alliance against Sri Lanka during the 1999 World Cup is in second place.
Warner features on the list with former Australia captain Steve Smith too, as the duo amassed 260 runs for the second wicket against Afghanistan in 2015. Fourth on the list after Dilshan-Tharanga is a stand from the current WC edition. In the ICC World Cup 2023 opener in Ahmedabad, New Zealand's Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra put together an unbroken 273-run stand for the second wicket to help crush defending champions England by nine wickets.
Things could have turned out entirely differently for Warner and Marsh had Pakistan held on to a straightforward chance. Warner offered an easy catch to Pak leggie Usama Mir when he was on 10, but Mir grassed it, and the diminutive southpaw did not a second invitation as he blazed away to his fourth consecutive century against the Men In Green.
Marsh's ton came on his birthday, which made him only the second cricketer after NZ's Ross Taylor to score an ODI World Cup hundred on the day they were born. Taylor scored 131 against Pakistan in Pallekele during 2011 World Cup. Overall, it was the sixth instance of a player scoring an ODI century in their birthday, with Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya, Vinod Kambli, Taylor, and Tom Latham also having achieved the feat.
