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May 26, 1999 | Ganguly, Dravid Tear Into Sri Lanka With 318-Run Stand in Taunton

The 1999 World Cup didn't end as per plan for India, but they did have some memorable moments in the tournament

Cricketnext Staff |May 26, 2020, 11:27 AM IST
May 26, 1999 | Ganguly, Dravid Tear Into Sri Lanka With 318-Run Stand in Taunton

The 1999 World Cup didn't end as per plan for India, but they did have some memorable moments in the tournament. One of them was the then-record partnership between the then-young guns of India's batting - Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid.

On May 26, 1999, the duo added 318 for the second wicket against Sri Lanka in Taunton, ending the island nation's chances of defending their title. Ganguly smashed 183 off 158 - his highest ODI score - with 17 fours and seven sixes. Dravid made 145 off 129 with 17 fours and one six.

The pair took India to a mammoth 373 for 6 in 50 overs. In reply, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 216 in 42.3 overs, with Robin Singh picking up a five-wicket haul.

Sri Lanka opted to field first and had a great start as Chaminda Vaas removed India opener Sadagoppan Ramesh in the first over. However, that would be their only success for nearly 45 more overs as Dravid joined Ganguly in the middle.

The duo took the attack to Sri Lanka, who tried as many as seven bowling options. Vaas ended with figures of 1 for 84 while Eric Upashantha conceded 80 without a wicket, both bowlers bowling 10 overs each.

The partnership was broken in the 46th over when Dravid was run out, missing his 150 by 5 runs. Ganguly nearly batted through, falling in the fifth ball of the last over.

The partnership was the highest in ODI cricket at that time, going past the 275* between Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja against Zimbabwe in Cuttack in 1998.

Since that game in Taunton, the record has been broken thrice. The current record for the highest ODI partnership is between Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels, who added 372 for West Indies against Australia in the 2015 World Cup game in Canberra.

Team Rankings

Rank Team Points Rating
1 India 5211 116
2 New Zealand 3959 110
3 Australia 4320 108
4 England 5253 105
5 South Africa 3537 98
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Rank Team Points Rating
1 England 6967 124
2 India 7939 118
3 New Zealand 5347 116
4 South Africa 5602 112
5 Australia 5915 110
see more
Rank Team Points Rating
1 Pakistan 8926 270
2 Australia 7815 269
3 England 6407 267
4 India 12141 264
5 South Africa 6220 259
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