Are Gilchrist and Hayden the best opening combination in ODI Cricket?

[Sean]

They have been in such excellent form. Gilly has made a couple of 40s and a couple of 50s and these 2 have put on a stand of 100 nearly every game.
Haydos.....
Well what can you say about him? He is in the best ODI form of his life.
He is on target to break Tendulkars record of the most runs in a World Cup tournament. I think he will do it and I hope he does it.

[161]

no way man ... they got nothing on hafeez and nazir

[jattafridi]

yes they are
Go australia
cricket world cup 2007 champions australia

[usman_ash14]

yes they are without a doubt.
But there aren'y any good fast bowlers around in this world cup and this has helped them.

[Milroastnescafe]

I had proclaimed Gayle+Chanderpaul as by far the best opening combination in this WC but Gayle's form has been atrocious and Shiv inconsistent, so yes, Hayden+Gilly by far in this tournament. Smith and Devilliers have had their moments (though primarily Smith.) Jiyasuria & Tharanga haven't been has impressive as i'd predicted either, though England have the worst opening combination by quite some margin. At least the Kiwi openers get out quickly to let Oram, Mcmillan and Styris get a hit, instead of boring the world to death with their mundanity.

[kablooee87]

Definitely. I don't really see how anyone can doubt it.

[ThaSiccSense]

Jayasuriya & Tharanga are pretty good aswell, but think the Kangaroos just edge it.

[suhaib]

right now yes, but overall i think gayle and shiv are.

[Zohaib Shah]

These two are great I love watching them play.

[12thMan]

Gichrist and Hayden are over 35 and should be dropped.
since Pakistan is out someone has to give some Paksitani spice to other first class cricket going on.

but I want to see atleast them playing in Paksitan. I hope Aus selectors make the right decision

[Sean]

Originally Posted by 12thMan Gichrist and Hayden are over 35 and should be dropped. since Pakistan is out someone has to give some Paksitani spice to other first class cricket going on. but I want to see atleast them playing in Paksitan. I hope Aus selectors make the right decision

Who should they be dropped? They are still performing and aren't doing anything wrong. Would Phil Jaques do a better job than Hayden? No.
Would Haddin do a better job than Gilly as opener? No.

[12thMan]

^ welcome to Pakistan 101. you are asking for things discussed in 300 course.

[mos123]

no doubt they both r in great form

[Saj]

They look to dominate from ball one dont they and that makes for fantastic entertainment.

However, its not mindless, head up in the air slogging, its calculated stuff. They place the ball well, they also look for singles too. They are very good at pushing the fielders back to the edge of the inner ring and then running the quick singles.

Also both are very good athletes and intelligent cricketers.

[Hari Sombar]

I think its like this :

Hayden - Gilly
Smith - AB Devilliars
Jaya - Tharanga

[faisalm]

Yeah, i didn't think Hayden woud do well before the tournament but he has played brilliant and attacking. Going into the tournament i thought he would he scoring about 27 from 40 balls and then get out. But i think that Gayle and Chanderpaul are as good if not better on their day as building a good platform, and the most destructive partneship has to be Jayasuriya and Tharanga.

[KalAhmed]

not too bad

[pakcric123]

They are easily the best openers.

[The Godfather]

definetly because they are consistent

[PlanetPakistan]

In the last 2 or 3 months they have definitely been by far the best plus they both are really entertaining to watch.

[apexiandipsite]

gilly and haydos are champs

both are cool and very exciting

[aliff]

yes, without a doubt

[safehands46]

yep no doubt about it ghilcrist and hayden are australian greats.

[James]

Vaughan and Joyce. Vaughan and Joyce.

[ytmuse]

ODIs - Best Opening Pairs

Based on all matches up to and including
ODI #2566: Ireland v New Zealand at Providence, ICC World Cup 36th Match, 9 Apr 2007


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mat I NO Runs Ave 100 50
A Jadeja & SR Tendulkar (Ind) 22 22 0 1315 59.77 5 7
SM Katich & AC Gilchrist (Aus) 26 26 0 1442 55.46 3 9
GC Smith & AB de Villiers (RSA) 20 20 1 1050 55.26 5 1
DL Haynes & CG Greenidge (WI) 102 102 4 5150 52.55 15 24
AC Gilchrist & ML Hayden (Aus) 96 96 3 4705 50.59 15 24
CH Gayle & S Chanderpaul (WI) 42 42 3 1942 49.79 5 11
ST Jayasuriya & WU Tharanga (SL) 31 31 0 1543 49.77 4 5
SR Tendulkar & SC Ganguly (Ind) 117 117 2 5621 48.87 16 21
HH Gibbs & G Kirsten (RSA) 66 66 5 2838 46.52 9 12
ME Waugh & MA Taylor (Aus) 30 30 0 1368 45.60 3 7
ST Jayasuriya & MS Atapattu (SL) 79 79 2 3382 43.92 8 19
V Sehwag & SR Tendulkar (Ind) 57 57 0 2459 43.14 9 10
GW Flower & A Flower (Zim) 33 33 1 1350 42.18 5 5
ME Waugh & AC Gilchrist (Aus) 93 93 0 3853 41.43 8 20
WW Hinds & CH Gayle (WI) 41 41 0 1687 41.14 4 5
DC Boon & GR Marsh (Aus) 88 88 0 3523 40.03 7 25
SC Ganguly & V Sehwag (Ind) 43 43 2 1625 39.63 5 6
BC Lara & DL Haynes (WI) 40 40 2 1495 39.34 5 4
Saeed Anwar & Aamer Sohail (Pak) 73 73 0 2856 39.12 3 20
AC Hudson & G Kirsten (RSA) 39 39 0 1511 38.74 4 8
HH Gibbs & GC Smith (RSA) 52 52 1 1913 37.50 5 9
AC Hudson & KC Wessels (RSA) 35 35 0 1279 36.54 3 6
NV Knight & ME Trescothick (Eng) 43 43 0 1567 36.44 4 8
JG Wright & BA Edgar (NZ) 43 43 1 1520 36.19 2 8
RJ Shastri & K Srikkanth (Ind) 32 32 0 1135 35.46 3 5
Mudassar Nazar & Mohsin Khan (Pak) 54 54 1 1783 33.64 2 10
Shahid Afridi & Saeed Anwar (Pak) 63 63 0 2056 32.63 2 11
Aamer Sohail & Rameez Raja (Pak) 37 37 0 1197 32.35 1 10
DA Gunawardene & ST Jayasuriya (SL) 44 44 1 1374 31.95 1 9
ST Jayasuriya & RS Kaluwitharana (SL) 105 105 1 3230 31.05 6 19
K Srikkanth & SM Gavaskar (Ind) 55 55 0 1680 30.54 2 11
SP Fleming & NJ Astle (NZ) 40 40 0 1151 28.77 4 2

Note: Minimum Qualification 1000 Runs


Contributed by StatsGuru (stats@cricinfo.com)

[tauseefm]

i think DL Haynes & CG Greenidge was the best ever opening pair...
but currently Gilchrist and Hayden are the best(no doubt about it)

[Sean]

Those stats are just based on averages. I'd rather go on runs.

[saffer]

smith and devilliers for my money will soon steal this mantle.....consider too they are on average about 11 years younger than these guys too ...(better average too...although not over as long a period ....but hey....the past doesn't mean much )

[saffer]

sean.....hayden's on course ? What about Kallis ? He's a good few runs ahead of Hayden ....

[Sean]

Is there ever a time where you compliment another team? You never seem to do this and just brag about RSA.

Although, yes you are right, Kallis has more runs. But it is only by 5 runs.

[Asim2Good]

Originally Posted by Sean Is there ever a time where you compliment another team? You never seem to do this and just brag about RSA. Although, yes you are right, Kallis has more runs. But it is only by 5 runs.

And I think one extra Inn too, but not sure

[Farrukh]

atleast sometimes!!

[tmac4real]

Gilchrist and Hayden easily.

[BD-fan]

Originally Posted by Sean Those stats are just based on averages. I'd rather go on runs.

even if you go by the runs they are not the best.
Two pairs have crossed 5k already in ODIs.

[Sean]

What I meant was, it doesn't show how good they are. Look how many matches the top 3 have played.

22,26 and 20. I think that the qualification for that should be 50 matches.
Then they would be second on the all time list behind Haynes and Grenidge. Never seen them play, but I heard they were just brilliant.

[tradecars]

er yes!