5 most prolific batting pairs for South Africa across formats

#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.