Also: what’s the record for the most bowlers used in an ODI?
Steven Lynch10-Mar-2020Was Beth Mooney’s 78 not out the highest score in a T20 World Cup final? asked Jan Peterson from Australia
Beth Mooney’s unbeaten 78 in Melbourne at the weekend was the highest in a women’s T20 World Cup final – and the 75 her opening partner, Alyssa Healy, made was the second highest. They both beat the previous best, Hayley Matthews’ 66 for West Indies against Australia in Kolkata in April 2016. The highest in a men’s final is 85 not out, by Marlon Samuels for West Indies against England, again in Kolkata in April 2016; Samuels is also second, with 78 against Sri Lanka in Colombo in October 2012.India’s recent Test at Christchurch featured six half-centuries, but the highest score was only 55. Was this some sort of record? asked Sujay Hathwar from the United States
Statsguru tells me that there have now been 111 Tests with six or more scores of 50-plus but no hundreds – and the 55s of Hanuma Vihari and Tom Blundell in the recent match in Christchurch were the lowest top individual scores from those games. The previous mark was six fifties but a highest of 67, in a tense match between West Indies and Pakistan in Bridgetown in 1987-88.England’s Test against Pakistan at Lord’s in May 2018 featured eight half-centuries but a highest score of 70. The most fifties in a single Test without a hundred is 13, by South Africa and England in Durban in 1927-28, when the highest individual score was Wally Hammond’s 90.There were 14 bowlers in Australia’s third ODI in South Africa – was this a record? asked David Weston from England
South Africa and Australia both used seven bowlers in the third one-day international in Potchefstroom at the weekend – but this was some way short of the ODI record. That currently stands at 17, by Afghanistan (nine) and Canada (eight) in Sharjah in February 2010. There are also 13 cases of 16 different bowlers in the same match.The Test record was set in a quiet draw between South Africa and England in Cape Town in 1964-65, when 20 different bowlers were used, the only unemployed men being the two wicketkeepers, Denis Lindsay and Jim Parks. The T20I record is 16 bowlers, which has happened twice – in matches on successive days, both involving Papua New Guinea, in last year’s T20 World Cup Qualifier. On October 19 they used nine bowlers and Bermuda seven in Dubai, and the next day both PNG and Namibia employed eight bowlers, on a different ground in Dubai.Graeme Smith made more than 8000 Test runs for South Africa during his time as captain•Associated PressI noticed that Virat Kohli recently passed 5000 Test runs as captain. Who is top of this list? asked Gagan Sharma from India
After the recent series in New Zealand, Virat Kohli had scored 5142 runs in 55 Tests as captain. That puts him in sixth place overall, not far behind New Zealand’s Stephen Fleming (5156 from 80 matches) and West Indies’ Clive Lloyd (5233 in 74). A little further ahead lie the Australian pair of Ricky Ponting (6542 in 77) and Allan Border (6623 in 93), but way out in front at the moment is Graeme Smith, who amassed 8659 runs in 109 Tests as captain. Kohli averages 61.21 as skipper, the highest of anyone with more than 3000 runs, with the predictable exceptions of Steve Smith (70.36) and Don Bradman (101.51).Who has played the most Tests and ODIs at a single venue? asked Lawrence Broughton from England
The Test record-holder is Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene, who played 27 at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo – which was also his home club. Muttiah Muralitharan played 24 Tests at the SSC, which puts him third; Alastair Cook made 26 Test appearances at Lord’s. James Anderson and Stuart Broad have both played 23 Tests at Lord’s so far.In one-day internationals, the list is headed by the Bangladeshi trio of wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim, allrounder Shakib Al Hasan and opener Tamim Iqbal, who have played 86, 80 and 78 matches respectively in Mirpur. Next comes Pakistan’s Wasim Akram, who played 77 times in Sharjah.Rahim also leads the way in T20Is, as he has played 24 in Mirpur; Mahmudullah has appeared 21 times at that ground. Hamilton Masakadza played 20 T20Is in Harare, and Umar Akmal 20 in Dubai. Overall, Rahim has played 129 matches in all three international formats in Mirpur, al Hasan 116, Iqbal 111, and Mahmudullah 106. Next come Masakadza and his Zimbabwean team-mate Elton Chigumbura, with 101 and 94 in Harare.Use our feedback form or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions
