The New Zealand openers put on an incredible show in the T20 World Cup semi-final against South Africa, pushing the Black Caps into the final.
Seifert’s 58 off 33 was a solid enough innings in a chase of 170, but Allen’s 33-ball 100* made it look like a plod.
The two of them have formed an incredible partnership at the top of the order in the shortest format, but where might they rank among the best opening pairs of all time?
10. Kevin O’Brien & Paul Stirling (Ireland, 2019-2021)
Innings: 40 | Runs: 1576 | Avg: 39.4 | RR: 8.4
A slightly surprising pair to start, but this Irish duo is one of only six at the top of the order in men’s T20I history to score over 1,500 runs together, including 13 stands of 50 or more. More than half these runs came against Associate sides, but the record holds up well against stronger Full Members too.
O’Brien and Stirling averaged nearly 40, scoring at 9.2 runs an over against Full Member teams. Two partnerships in particular stand out; 154 in 12.3 overs against the West Indies and 126 in 11.5 overs against Afghanistan.
9. Abhishek Sharma & Shubman Gill (India, 2024-2025)
Innings: 17 | Runs: 560 | Avg: 35.0 | RR: 9.9
India’s recent first-choice opening pair has been Abhishek and Sanju Samson, but midway through last year, they attempted to re-integrate Gill into the T20I setup. While Gill eventually lost his place for the World Cup due to his form tapering off, his opening stands with Abhishek were perhaps not as poor as his own form might have suggested.
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Most of Gill’s utility came where more conventional batting was required on slightly trickier wickets, while Abhishek attempted to explode at the other end; scoring at 10 an over doing so is undoubtedly a success. This pair could yet be reunited in the future as well.
An honourable mention here goes to the Yashasvi Jaiswal-Shubman Gill partnership, which has materialised only 10 times but in that time has managed stands of 165 in 15.3 overs and 156* in 15.2 overs.
8. Loots Bosman & Graeme Smith (South Africa, 2006-2010)
Innings: 12 | Runs: 650 | Avg: 59.1 | RR: 10.2
Not exactly a pair you would immediately consider for T20I cricket’s hall of fame. Bosman and Smith did not open for long together, but the record is outstanding, and is only more impressive considering the era in which they played together; not many since have matched their rate of scoring.
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132* in 11.3 overs against Pakistan in 2007 and 170 in 13.1 overs against England in 2009 are the highlights of this partnership, which, like Gill and Abhishek, largely had Smith holding an end early on while Bosman unleashed hell. Potentially the only blot on their record is they were not really tested by spin in the Powerplay; neither player had a particularly good strike rate against slower bowling in T20 cricket. In the modern era, this may have been exposed a bit more.
7. Alex Hales & Michael Lumb (England, 2012-2014)
Innings: 18 | Runs: 705 | Avg: 41.5 | RR: 9.2
Another pair from the earlier days of T20 cricket, that was ahead of its time. By this point, Lumb had already helped England to a T20 World Cup title alongside Craig Kieswetter in 2010, and formed another devastating partnership with Hales.
In 2013 and 2014, leading up to the World Cup, they had put on three half-century and two century stands in 14 innings. But after partnerships of 1, 0, 46 and 18 as England failed to make the semi-finals, it was dismantled, never to return.
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6. Aaron Finch & David Warner (Australia, 2012-2022)
Innings: 39 | Runs: 1401 | Avg: 38.9 | RR: 8.8
Apart from 2015 and 2018, Finch and Warner opened together at least once in each calendar year from 2012 to 2022. One of the longer associations on this list, they had four century stands, each scored at nine runs an over or better.
After they helped Australia to a T20 World Cup title in 2021, Finch and Warner had a down year in the 2022 edition as their careers winded down; that tournament would call time on this partnership.
5. KL Rahul & Rohit Sharma (India, 2017-2022)
Innings: 34 | Runs: 1412 | Avg: 41.5 | RR: 8.9
For Indian fans, this may be a pair that brings back memories of the nightmarish 2022 T20 World Cup exit. While that was the last time they appeared together, Rahul and Rohit had quite a fruitful time before that.
In the years that they operated, opening stands against Full Member teams went at 8.2 an over on average; they scored at 8.8, while averaging a tick over 40 across five years. At their best, they could wreak havoc on anyone. In just their third time opening together, they put on 165 in 12.4 overs (thanks largely to Rohit) as India made 260-5 against Sri Lanka.
4. David Warner & Shane Watson (Australia, 2009-2015)
Innings: 32 | Runs: 1108 | Avg: 34.6 | RR: 8.9
Warner and Watson were one of the earliest semi-long term partnerships at this level in T20 cricket. Consider that their scoring rate was almost identical to Rahul-Rohit, but about seven years earlier, without a really significant drop in average.
Part of what made this duo so fearsome was that they were not uniquely vulnerable to pace or spin within the Powerplay, scoring at about eight runs an over off each type of bowling (being a left-right pair would have helped). As a bowling team, heaven help you if they got past the first six overs; it didn’t happen often but they upped the rate to 12 an over against both pace and spin when they did.
3. Martin Guptill & Colin Munro (New Zealand, 2017-2020)
Innings: 25 | Runs: 1012 | Avg: 40.5 | RR: 9.7
For a period of time, Munro was one of the most dangerous openers in the shortest format. When his career overlapped with Guptill, they made an explosive pair. In the years they batted together, Guptill-Munro scored at 1.1 runs per over better than the global average against Full Member teams.
In late 2019 and early 2020, they put on eight double-figure partnerships in a row, consistently scoring at 10 an over. Perhaps the one big regret New Zealand will have is that they never got to unleash this pair at a World Cup; they started the year after 2016 and ended the year before 2021.
2. Finn Allen & Tim Seifert (New Zealand, 2023-2026)
Innings: 18 | Runs: 810 | Avg: 47.6 | RR: 11.4
Allen-Seifert placing second on an all-time list may garner accusations of recency bias, but how much could one argue against it? For any opening partnership in men’s T20Is with at least 500 runs together, their run rate is the highest ever – and they average nearly 50 to boot.
On current form, this might only go up; both players have had to go through reinventions of themselves since encountering challenges early on in international cricket, and are both in absolutely menacing touch – just ask the UAE, against whom they scored an unbeaten 175 at this World Cup.
The two have also batted together in second-wicket stands, when Seifert was at three for New Zealand. One of those was 125 off 61 balls against Pakistan. Both will play for the same IPL franchise this year, KKR. If there is room for both, this placing of second could even appear low by the end of the season.
1. Jos Buttler & Phil Salt (England, 2023-2026)
Innings: 30 | Runs: 1216 | Avg: 41.9 | RR: 10.4
Another contemporary, all right-handed pair takes top spot here. Buttler’s struggles at the ongoing World Cup mean they aren’t quite the force they have been over the last three years, but if they click, it could be bad news even for a team as strong as India.
Averaging 40 at more than 10 an over across this long tells the tale on its own. Volume, check. Scoring rate, check. Longevity, check. It was just about six months ago that their opening stand of 126 in 7.5 overs against South Africa laid the platform for the first 300-plus total against a Full Member side. They have three century stands besides that, all made at 10 an over or better.
When set, Buttler-Salt also does not end up slowing down against spin, as other English batters might – so far, they tend to cruise at a cool nine runs an over even outside the Powerplay.
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