West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite and Tagenarine Chanderpaul became the first opening pair to bat in excess of 100 overs in an innings in the 21st century during the first Test against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo on Monday.
Continuing their batting into the third day of a rain-affected Test, Brathwaite and Chanderpaul became only the second opening pair to face over 600 deliveries in a Test innings.
Brathwaite and Chanderpaul then fell just short of the previous record held by Sri Lanka’s Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya, who had played 114.2 overs against Pakistan in Kandy in July 2000, amassing 335 for the first wicket.
Wellington Masakadza trapped Brathwaite lbw on 182, ending the opening stand at 338 in 114.1 overs, one ball short of levelling the record.
Brathwaite, who had compiled his 12th Test ton the previous day, crossed the 150-run mark off 278 balls. Meanwhile, Tagenarine, son of West Indies great Shivnarine Chanderpaul, notched up his first Test ton in just his third game on Day 2.
The pair scaled the 300-run mark in 644 deliveries against the home side and broke the record set by Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes (298 v England, 1990) for the highest opening Test partnership for West Indies.
Most balls faced by an opening pair in a Test innings
| Pair | Innings played | Runs | Balls Faced | Opposition | Venue and Year |
| Marvan Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya (SL) | 1 | 335 | 686 | Pakistan | Kandy, 2000 |
| Kraigg Brathwaite and Tagenarine Chanderpaul (WI) | 1 | 320 | 685 | Zimbabwe | Bulawayo, 2023 |
| Neil McKenzie and Graeme Smith (SA) | 1 | 415 | 567 | Bangladesh | Chattogram, 2008 |
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