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BPL | Partnership BPL: Shakib-Iftikhar script world record with stunning partnership
Dhaka, January 20: Fortune Barisal captain Shakib Al Hasan and Pakistani recruit Iftikhar Ahmed scored runs at Zahoor Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on Thursday. A flurry of fours and sixes ran from their bat.
Shakib's six sixes and Iftikhar's nine maximums lit up the stadium. Besides, they both set several records. Among which there is a world record.
Shakib and Iftikhar are the new record holders for the fifth wicket partnership in BPL. Against Rangpur Riders, they scored 192 runs for the fifth wicket, breaking the record of 115 runs of West Indian Chadwick Walton and Bangladeshi Mehdi Hasan Miraj. Walton and Miraj made a partnership of 115 runs against Khulna Tigers at Sher Bangla Stadium last season.
Besides, Iftikhar and Shakib also created a new record for the third most runs by any wicket pair in the BPL. The most runs by a pair is held by West Indian great Chris Gayle and New Zealand's Brendon McCullum. The two of them put together a 201-run stand for the second wicket against Dhaka Dynamites at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in 2017 for Rangpur Riders.
The second highest run is scored by openers Lou Vincent of New Zealand and Shahriar Nafees of Bangladesh. The duo put on 197 runs for the opening stand for Khulna Royal Bengals against Duranto Rajshahi in 2013 at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna.
Not only these records. Shakib Al Hasan and Iftikhar Ahmed set a world record for the fifth wicket in T20 cricket, not just BPL.
On their way to 192 for the fifth wicket, Shakib and Iftikhar surpassed Dan Mousley and Adam Hose's record of 171 runs.
The two scored 171 runs for the fifth-wicket for Birmingham in England's Twenty20 series in 2020. It was the highest fifth-wicket partnership in the T20 format so far.
