And who holds the record for the most wicketkeeping dismissals in the IPL?
Steven Lynch10-Nov-2020Was the recent huge partnership by Will Pucovski and Marcus Harris the highest by two Australians? asked Geoff Reynolds from Australia
That opening stand of 486 by Will Pucovski (who scored 255 not out) and Marcus Harris (239) for Victoria against South Australia in Adelaide recently was the highest for any wicket in the Sheffield Shield, beating 464 (unbroken) by the Waugh twins for New South Wales against Western Australia in Perth in 1990-91.But it wasn’t quite the largest partnership in first-class cricket by two Australians. That came in an extraordinary match at Blacktown Oval in Sydney in 2015-16, when openers Ryan Carters (209) and Aaron Finch (288 not out) put on 503 for a Cricket Australia XI against the New Zealand tourists – at which point the match was abandoned as the pitch was deemed unsafe. This is not quite as strange as it sounds: the wicket was deteriorating badly, and the New Zealanders had used spinners and occasional bowlers for the last part of the CA XI’s innings.Australia’s highest partnership in Tests remains the 451 of Bill Ponsford (266) and Don Bradman (244) for the second wicket against England at The Oval in 1934.Is it true that no one has yet taken a five-for against the Mumbai Indians? asked Kishore Mehta from India
It is true that no one has yet taken five wickets in an innings against Mumbai Indians in the IPL. And the identity of the man with the best figures against them comes as a bit of a surprise: it’s Rohit Sharma, now their captain, who took 4 for 6 with his offbreaks against Mumbai for Deccan Chargers in Centurion, South Africa, in 2009. Sharma has taken just 15 IPL wickets all told, only one of them since 2010.Mumbai are the only current team that has not conceded a five-for in the IPL. No one had done it against the Delhi Capitals until a fortnight ago, when Varun Chakravarthy took 5 for 20 for Kolkata Knight Riders in Abu Dhabi. However, both Lasith Malinga and Jaydev Unadkat took five-fors against Delhi when the team was known as the Daredevils. Here is the list of the best bowling figures in the IPL.Quinton de Kock has made 20 dismissals in the current IPL. Is he near the record for a wicketkeeper in one tournament? asked Mehdi Balasingam from India
After the first qualifier in Dubai last Thursday evening, the Mumbai Indians’ wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock had 20 dismissals (16 catches and four stumpings) in this season’s tournament. That’s one more than he managed last year. But he needs four victims in the final to tie the record for one season, also set last year, by Rishabh Pant for the Delhi Capitals: he had 18 catches and six stumpings, for a total of 24.The best bowling figures against the Mumbai Indians are by their current captain Rohit Sharma, from when he was with the Deccan Chargers in 2009•Associated PressDean Elgar scored 101 out of 150 for the Titans recently. What is the lowest first-class total to include a century? asked Savo Ceprnich from South Africa
There have been only four all-out innings lower than the Titans’ 150 against the Cape Cobras in Cape Town last week that contained an individual century – in this case Elgar’s 101, with Junior Dala’s 18 being the next-best score.Lowest of all is 143, which has happened twice – first when another South African, Clive Rice, made 105 not out for Nottinghamshire against Hampshire in Bournemouth in 1981 (next best was Tim Robinson’s 10). That was equalled by Gujranwala in Pakistan’s Quaid-e-Azam Trophy in 2001-02, when their 143 in Bahawalpur included a round 100 from Rizwan Malik. Kent’s 144 against Warwickshire in Folkestone in 1931 featured an unbeaten 103 from Frank Woolley, while when the Parsees were all out for 148 against the Europeans in Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1907-08, Rustomji Meherhomji scored exactly 100.If you don’t insist on an all-out innings, the lowest first-class total to include a century is Faisalabad’s 128 for 1 against Sargodha in Faisalabad in 2000-01, when Mohammad Ramzan – who had hit 205 in the first innings – scored 102 not out, Mohammad Salman 9, and Fida Hussain 7 not out.Blessing Muzarabani took wickets with the last two balls he bowled in last week’s tied ODI, then another with the first ball of the Super Over. Will this count as a hat-trick? asked Vishal Rao from India
The tall Zimbabwean seamer Blessing Muzarabani took a career-best 5 for 49 against Pakistan in the third one-day international in Rawalpindi last week, rounding it off with the wickets of Shaheen Shah Afridi and Babar Azam with the last two balls of the match. He then started the Super Over with the wicket of Iftikhar Ahmed.Sadly for Muzarabani, neither his unusual hat-trick nor his overall figures of 7 for 51 will feature in the official lists: when eliminator overs were introduced a few years ago, the ICC decreed that performances in them shouldn’t count towards a player’s individual record. While this is rather tough luck on Muzarabani, I suppose it is in line with most other sports: football, for example, does not count goals scored in penalty shootouts in a player’s overall career tally.Use our feedback form or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions