Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett are the openers for England in Test cricket, and on Saturday (August 2), they entered their names in the history books by becoming the first opening pair in the world to register nine 50+ run opening partnerships in Tests against the Indian team. Duckett and Crawley opened the second innings for England in the ongoing fifth Test against India at The Oval and added 50 runs for the first wicket in 13.5 overs on Saturday. The 50-run stand by the duo was the ninth time in 19 innings that they managed to add at least 50 runs for the first wicket in Tests against India. They broke Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes’s record. Haynes and Greenidge played 30 innings as an opener for the West Indies against India in Tests and added at least 50 runs for the first wicket eight times. Most 50+ partnerships for an opening pair vs India in Tests 9 – Zak Crawley & Ben Duckett (England) 8 – Gordon Greenidge & Desmond Haynes (West Indies) 7 – Alastair Cook & Andrew Strauss (England) 7 – Matthew Hayden & Justin Langer (England) 7 – Bill Lawry & Bob Simpson (Australia) In 19 Test innings against India, Crawley and Duckett have added 1034 runs as opening partners for England against India. They are only the second opening pair in the world to score 1000 runs against India in the five-day format of the game. Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley’s opening stands vs India in Tests Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam The overall record of scoring the most runs as an opening pair in Tests against India is in the name of Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes of the West Indies. Haynes and Greenidge played 30 innings as an opener against India in Tests and added 1325 runs. Most runs as opening partners against India in Tests Gordon Greenidge & Desmond Haynes West Indies Zak Crawley & Ben Duckett Alastair Cook & Andrew Strauss Bill Lawry & Bob Simpson Justin Langer & Matthew Hayden Michael Atherton & Graham Gooch Ed Cowan & David Warner Alviro Petersen & Graeme Smith South Africa Marvan Atapattu & Sanath Jayasuriya Jeffrey Stollmeyer & Allan Rae West Indies Crawley out for 14 In England’s second innings of the ongoing fifth Test against India at The Oval, Crawley could only manage to score 14 runs from 36 balls. He was clean bowled by Mohammed Siraj on the last ball of third day’s play.