5 most prolific batting pairs for South Africa across formats

Batting partnerships are a hallmark of any world class team and in that regard, South Africa have been blessed over the course of their cricketing history. However, in modern cricket where batsmen need to be consistent across formats and forge the same sort of effect with their batting partners, it perhaps becomes a far more difficult task.

In that regard, South Africa's best batsmen over the last two decades or so have been quite brilliant and they have taken their batting chemistry to other formats of the game with relative ease. Needless to say, it is also one of the reasons why South Africa have been one of the best teams in world cricket for most of the past two decades.

Here is a look at 5 of their best batting pairs across the three different formats of the game.

#5 AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis

If there is ever a debate about the greatest batsmen to have been produced by South Africa, then the names of Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers will figure prominently. However, more importantly, the duo batted together across the three formats of the game for nearly a decade and perhaps formed one of the most formidable duos in world cricket.

While both were technically superb and had the ability to bat on all sorts of wickets, against all kinds of bowling attacks, their approaches to batting were different.

Kallis believed in grinding the opposition down and usually had a far more conservative style in limited-overs cricket. De Villiers, on the other hand, is a natural stroke-maker and in limited-overs cricket, took it to a whole new level. They batted together on 97 occasions and amassed 5200 runs at a brilliant average of 57.14. They put on stands in excess of hundred runs on 18 occasions and crossed the 50 run mark 14 times.

#4 Herschelle Gibbs and Jacques Kallis

Jacques Kallis and Herschelle Gibbs

As far as swashbuckling batting at the top of the order was concerned, no one quite came close to Herschelle Gibbs during the late 1990s and the major of the noughties. He opened the batting for South Africa in all three formats of the game with great success and remains one of their best ever players.

In all three formats, Gibbs created a wonderful partnership with South African batting legend Jacques Kallis. Gibbs' natural attacking instincts coupled with Kallis' solidity and technical excellence made them an excellent pair across formats.

Hence, it is not surprising that they are the 4th most successful batting pair in all formats with an aggregate of 5589 runs in 123 partnerships. They made 12 century-plus stands and crossed the 50 run mark as many as 25 times.

#3 Hashim Amla and Graeme Smith

Hashim Amla and Graeme Smith

The former South African captain and legendary opening batsman Graeme Smith was one of the pillars of the team's batting line-up across the three formats of the game for most of his career. He forged plenty of excellent partnerships with a host of players but one of the most fruitful was the one he shared with the elegant Hashim Amla from 2006 to 2014.

The two top-order batsmen went on to become the bulwark of the South African batting line-up when they became one of the best teams in Test cricket and among the finest in limited overs cricket.

Smith might not have been the most technically gifted player but his homegrown technique helped him score runs all over the world and he was an excellent top order batsman in ODIs and T20Is.

On the other hand, Amla's defensive technique, stroke-making and the hunger for big runs made him the perfect partner. The two were involved in 117 partnerships and made 5680 runs at an excellent average of 49.82. They were involved in 12 century-plus stands, while 30 of their partnerships crossed the 50 runs threshold.

#2 Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers

Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers

During the period when South Africa dominated Test cricket in the second half of the noughties and beyond, their batting line-up boasted some of the world's best batsmen. Among them were Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers. The pair was just as outstanding in ODI cricket and T20I cricket as it was in Test cricket, and put together some truly memorable partnerships.

Their superb defensive technique, range of strokes, patience and the ability to score big made the Amla-de Villiers pairing one of the most formidable in the history of Test cricket. In total, they were involved in 112 partnerships across the three formats of the game and aggregated 6225 runs, at a superb average of 57.63.

The pair put up 20 stands in excess of a hundred runs, while the number of fifty-plus stands stood at 23.

#1 Herschelle Gibbs and Graeme Smith

Herschelle Gibbs and Graeme Smith

Graeme Smith replaced Gary Kirsten at the top of the order following his emergence and created a hugely successful opening partnership with Herschelle Gibbs, across the three formats of the game. While both players had the game to grind their way to a decent opening stand in Tests, they were also capable of attacking from the outset when it came to limited overs cricket.

The pair batted together on 164 occasions (primarily as openers) across the three formats of the game and were particularly famous for getting South Africa off to lightning quick starts in limited overs cricket.

Their most famous partnership was perhaps the 187 they put on for the 2nd wicket in just under 21 overs in that famous record-breaking chase at the Wanderers against Australia back in 2006. Gibbs and Smith totalled 7138 runs as a pair and their partnerships averaged 44.61 across the three formats. They put on 19 hundred-run stands and crossed the fifty run mark 29 times.