<
>

What is the highest T20 total when the team has been all out?

Karn Sharma reacts to falling, caught and bowled off Starc, with three runs needed off two balls BCCI

RCB were all out for 221 in a recent IPL match (and lost by a single run). Was this the highest T20 total where the team was all out? asked Pradip from India
Royal Challengers' 221 against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens last week was indeed the highest all-out total in any senior T20 game. The previous highest was Surrey's 215 against Glamorgan in the T20 Blast at The Oval in May 2015, while the best in the IPL was KKR's 210 against Rajasthan Royals in Mumbai in 2022.

There have been two higher totals in one-run defeats in T20 matches: 248 for 4 by Central Districts against Otago (249 for 3) in New Plymouth in New Zealand's Super Smash in December 2016, and India's 244 for 4 against West Indies (245 for 6) in a T20I in Lauderhill in the United States four months earlier.

Which visiting player has made the most Test hundreds in another country? asked Terry Sullivan from England
There's a familiar name at the top of this list: Don Bradman made 11 Test centuries in England, in 19 matches, at an average of 102.84. Jack Hobbs made nine Test hundreds in Australia, while Wally Hammond had seven. Sunil Gavaskar made seven in the West Indies (in only 13 Tests), while Steve Smith and Steve Waugh have both made seven in England.

Overall, Sachin Tendulkar made 29 Test centuries outside India, and Rahul Dravid 21; Jacques Kallis collected 20 outside South Africa. Only seven of Younis Khan's 34 Test centuries were scored in Pakistan, but 11 of them came in "home" games staged in the UAE.

I noticed that when England bowled Bangladesh out for 220 in 2016, Tamim Iqbal and Mominul Haque put on 170. Is that the biggest proportion of an innings by one partnership? asked Ashraful Haque from Bangladesh
That partnership of 170 between Tamim Iqbal and Mominul Haque in Mirpur in October 2016 accounted for 77.27% of the total of 220. There's only one partnership that made up a higher percentage than that in a completed Test innings: in Durban in December 2000, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene put on 168 for the third wicket but Sri Lanka were all out for 216 - so the partnership percentage was 77.78%.

There have been several higher percentages in all first-class cricket. Top of the list reveals a staggering collapse: at Lord's in 1960, Leicestershire were 196 for 0 after a splendid stand between Maurice Hallam and Willie Watson - but they were all out not long afterwards for 214 (the England fast bowler Alan Moss had a spell of 5 for 6). The opening partnership therefore accounted for 91.59% of the total.

Which bowler has dismissed most centurions, in each of the three international formats? asked Ganesh Virudaghiri from India
In Tests, unsurprisingly perhaps, the top wicket-taker leads the way: Muthiah Muralidaran dismissed 34 batters after they had reached 100, not far ahead of James Anderson with 32. Next come the Indians Harbhajan Singh (28) and Anil Kumble (25), with Stuart Broad and Zaheer Khan on 24.

A different Indian leads the way in one-day internationals: Mohammed Shami has dismissed 15 century-makers, Mashrafe Mortaza 12, Lasith Malinga 11 and Tim Southee 10. In T20I, Lizaad Williams of South Africa (who has so far taken only 16 wickets in all) and Bangladesh's Abdur Razzak have both dismissed two. Overall, Murali dismissed 42 century-makers in all internationals, Anderson and Harbhajan 35, Kumble 32 and Broad 31. Anderson may yet add to his total.

Brian Lara scored 221 and 130 against Sri Lanka back in 2001, but still lost - was that the highest aggregate in a losing cause? asked Vidula Wijesirinarayana from Sri Lanka
The great West Indian Brian Lara amassed 351 runs in that match in Colombo in November-December 2001, but it wasn't enough to prevent Sri Lanka winning by ten wickets. It is the record for the most runs in a Test defeat - but not by as much as you might expect: a few weeks before Lara's feat, Andy Flower made 341 runs (142 and 199 not out) against South Africa in Harare, but Zimbabwe lost by nine wickets.

The two left-handers broke the long-standing record of 303 runs, set by England's Herbert Sutcliffe (176 and 127) in a defeat to Australia in Melbourne in 1925.

Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo's stats team helped with some of the above answers.

Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions