Pat Cummins joined the list when he went 6, 6, 6 against Shardul Thakur in Hyderabad in IPL 2025

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Mar-2025Pat Cummins vs LSG, 2025
Cummins walked out to bat at the end of the 16th over with SRH 156 for 6. He got on strike in the next over, and hit back-to-back sixes off Shardul Thakur’s last two balls to get going. The first ball was short and wide, which he thrashed over point before dumping a juicy full toss over the sight-screen next ball. He faced his third ball in the next over, off Avesh Khan, and deposited the length ball straight down the ground again. He was dismissed next ball, steering one to short third, for a four-ball 18.MS Dhoni vs Mumbai Indians (MI), 2024
Wankhede roared as MS Dhoni made his way to the middle with just four balls left in the innings against MI. They got their money’s worth when he showed no mercy to MI captain Hardik Pandya. He started by clobbering a length ball over long-off, much to the delight of the “away” crowd. The next ball was again on a length, which Dhoni deposited over long-on. Hardik next went for the yorker but dished out a low full toss that was flicked over deep square-leg. Dhoni finished unbeaten on 20 off four with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) winning the game by that exact margin.MS Dhoni hit three sixes off his first three balls against MI in IPL 2024•BCCINicholas Pooran vs SRH, 2023
Nicholas Pooran found himself in the middle with LSG needing 56 off 27 in a chase of 183. Abhishek Sharma had just broken a 43-ball 73-run partnership by dismissing Marcus Stoinis. It mattered little for Pooran, who slog-swept the left-arm spinner over deep midwicket to open his account. The next ball was full, and he powered it straight over the bowler’s head. The third ball – the last of the over – was also full and Pooran got down on his knees to bash it over deep midwicket. In all, five sixes were hit in that over – Stoinis had hit two earlier.Sunil Narine vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), 2021
In the eliminator of IPL 2021 in Sharjah, Sunil Narine went out at No. 5 when Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) needed just 60 off 54 balls. He hit three successive sixes off Dan Christian to set about his task of injecting momentum to the close. Two of his sixes came to the shorter leg side – first a pull over fine leg against a short ball and then a slog over midwicket to a full ball on his pads. When Christian provided him the width on his third ball, he powered a one-handed six over long-off. Narine had earlier picked up a four-wicket haul to restrict RCB, and his 15-ball 26 ended Virat Kohli’s tenure as captain in the IPL.

The players from both teams stuck to their own routines, but the buzz is expected to grow when they face each other

Shashank Kishore06-Sep-202513:47

Runorder: What is India’s best XI for the Asia Cup?

Shortly after 7pm, all eyes at the ICC Academy turned towards the nets area of the Pakistan team. They’d just arrived for their final training session ahead of Sunday’s tri-series final against Afghanistan in Sharjah.Would there be a cross-over with India, who were already in the middle of their own preparations? Would players exchange pleasantries or keep their distance? Those hoping for a moment worth filming were left disappointed as both teams stuck to their routines.India’s session spanned nearly three hours in which each of their specialist batters spent more than an hour in the middle, before the allrounders padded up and whacked the ball into all corners to bring down what turned out to be more range-hitting than a net session aimed at players finding touch.Related

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Pakistan batted at the nets area tucked away in a quiet corner, away from the prying eyes. They prepped on surfaces that offered turn, bite and uneven bounce, perhaps simulating what’s in store against Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar and Noor Ahmad come Sunday. Away from the nets, Shaheen Shah Afridi took a few catches and did a light warm-up, while Haris Rauf ran laps.The assortment of surfaces at the ICC Academy, as many as 40 of them – largely Asian but also some that replicate bouncy conditions like at the WACA, Gabba and some that offer swing and seam – were put to good use by as many as 60 players over the last few days, including those from Oman and Hong Kong.By the time training wrapped up on Saturday, the organisers breathed a sigh of relief. Pakistan had a game to play on Sunday, and India announced a rest day.The evening began with India doing a bronco drill with cones placed at 20, 40 and 60 metres distances. The squad split into three groups of five. Trainer Adrian Le Roux called the shots, Sitanshu Kotak kept score, while head coach Gautam Gambhir turned cheerleader. The exercise wasn’t about results as much as it was about simulating match-day conditions in the event that India field first in the heat.Once the lights took full effect, the players shifted into full-fledged centre-wicket nets. Friday had been about easing in, but Saturday had a sharper edge, perhaps even giving us a peek into combinations that are slowly beginning to emerge.Purely on evidence of the first two days, it seems as if Jitesh Sharma may have a slight edge over Sanju Samson as India’s first-choice wicketkeeper. He underwent extended batting stints on Saturday, with Gambhir watching closely from behind the nets. At one point, he appeared to advise Jitesh about some of his premeditated attempts at scoops and pick-up shots.The Indian team during their first training session ahead of Asia Cup 2025•Shashank Kishore/ESPNcricinfo LtdSamson, meanwhile, only took throwdowns to begin with and sat watching the other batters go through their paces. Just before the session wound down, though, he padded up and hit the ball far and long. Out came the pulls, flat-bats and some heaves that had him occasionally grimace at losing his shape.All told, there was little to suggest anything was off. His timing was crisp and the sound it made off the sweet spot had those patrolling the boundaries and beyond repeatedly running distances to fetch the ball hit into the outer periphery of the ICC Academy Ovals, some even into Pakistan’s training area.Long before Samson took guard, Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Tilak Varma were the first to stride out, followed by Suryakumar Yadav, Rinku Singh, and Jitesh. For the next 90 minutes, they faced a mix of Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Shivam Dube and Hardik Pandya.Then came a battery of local net bowlers that included three wristspinners and two left-arm seamers, all instructed to go flat out. India’s two throwdown specialists jumped in periodically, cranking up the pace whenever the session needed a jolt. India completed a four-hour-long training session close to 9pm.Sunday is rest day, with the Indian team lined up to have two more sessions in the lead-up to their Asia Cup opening game against UAE on September 10.

India await in second assignment of women’s summer, but new head coach likes what she’s seen so far

Valkerie Baynes08-Jun-2025England Women can expect a tougher test of their new set-up when India arrive later this month, after West Indies’ tour ended in 3-0 sweeps of both T20I and ODI series.Such results don’t appear to be optimal preparation for the world’s No.2 ODI side to take on third-ranked rivals and World Cup hosts India. However, they provided a confidence boost after the nadir of six months ago, and allowed the hosts to experiment, gleaning some valuable insights in the process.It turns out the solution to their top-order conundrum in the 50-over format had been staring them in the face all along. England’s depth of talent has so often been boasted about as a welcome product of the professionalisation of the domestic women’s game, but by bringing that to the fore rather than leaving it in the background amid a reluctance to tinker, they have strengthened their batting and bowling options.”We are under no illusions that we are going to have tougher times ahead,” Charlotte Edwards, England’s new head coach, said on Saturday. “But equally, what we are seeing already is that appetite for people to want to keep getting better too – they can’t stand still because there’s someone probably in county cricket now scoring runs who’s winning games of cricket.”Reuniting Amy Jones and Tammy Beaumont as openers after five years was hugely successful, with both scoring back-to-back centuries in twin partnerships worth more than 200 each across the first two games. So too was the introduction of Linsey Smith and Em Arlott to the ODI bowling ranks.So much so that, in the third and final ODI in Taunton on Saturday, Jones dropped back to the middle order (where she wasn’t required) and Beaumont was rested along with Smith, coincidentally just as it was announced that fellow left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone would take a wellbeing break with a view to feeling ready to take on India.Charlotte Edwards wants to be able to pick from a pool of 25 players for every England match•Getty ImagesArlott, who made her international debut during the T20I leg of the tour and was rested for the second ODI, returned with devastating effect on Saturday, taking two wickets for one run in the space of six balls as West Indies lurched to 3 for 4 inside four overs.Meanwhile, Sarah Glenn made her first appearance of the series in Taunton and took 3 for 21 after a five-hour rain delay to help contain West Indies to 106 for 8 from 21 overs. She was subsequently named player of the match as England cruised to a nine-wicket victory with Nat Sciver-Brunt scoring an unbeaten 57 opening alongside Sophia Dunkley.Emma Lamb, who like Arlott and Smith had been called up after dominating the start of the domestic 50-over competition, scored a quick-fire 55 in the second ODI before making way for Alice Capsey to move up to No. 3 and score 20 not out.Of course England had the luxury to try just about anything against an already under-strength West Indies who travelled without injured big hitters Chinelle Henry and Deandra Dottin and were further depleted when star allrounder and captain Hayley Matthews succumbed to a shoulder problem. Matthews had been player of the T20I series, despite her side failing to win a match but was ruled out of the second and third ODIs after aggravating the injury while fielding in the first in Derby.Related

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But the fact that the third ODI amounted to batting practice for England’s regular middle-order, who had up to that point been under-used, and that a re-jigged bowling line-up got their job done illustrated that their desired competition for places has arrived – something not present for the failed T20 World Cup and Ashes campaigns.”It is going to be difficult to pick teams moving forward,” Edwards added, “but that’s the place we wanted to be and we don’t want to be picking from 15 or 16 players. We want to be picking from a pool of 25 players, which I genuinely think we are now. We’ve probably got there quicker than I thought we would.”A significant factor has been Edwards’ insistence on England-contracted players playing domestic cricket in the lead-up to the West Indies series.While some will rest ahead of India’s arrival, others were set to leave the ODI squad and rejoin their domestic teams for the Vitality Blast as early as Sunday.”There’s a group of fast bowlers now really vying for a few spots,” Edwards added. “I don’t think we’ve had that, probably in the last five years, in terms of about five or six bowlers who could all open the bowling for England. And a really good group of batters who are really pushing each other to get better and better, which I think is a really healthy place to be in as a team. It makes it harder for us now to select teams, but equally more exciting for us moving forward.”England play five T20Is against India starting at Trent Bridge on June 28, followed by three ODIs. And while Edwards admitted that, with this year’s World Cup in mind, she would have preferred to have played more ODIs, England will host the T20 World Cup in a year’s time.”That’s why we played around with the team a little bit today,” she said. “But equally, we understand that the T20 format is a format that, for next summer is really important as well, so we’ll manage that.Linsey Smith took her chances after a long period out of the selectors’ thoughts•ECB via Getty Images”We absolutely know that, in a couple of weeks’ time at Trent Bridge, that’s going to be tough. They’re one of the best teams in the world, they’ve got some of the best players, so we’re going to have to be right on it when we get to the 28th of June. But we’ve taken a lot of confidence from this and that’s the most important thing. We can only play what’s in front of us and we’ll look to do that again when we play against India.”West Indies failed to qualify for the 50-over World Cup immediately before heading to England. That they couldn’t put up more of a fight in the T20Is, despite knocking England out of that World Cup last October, was unsurprising given their over-reliance on Matthews.There were some small highlights for West Indies, who will return home to host South Africa in the first of three ODIs starting on Wednesday, then three T20Is.At just 20 years of age, Realeanna Grimmond offered cause for optimism with her half-century on ODI debut in the second game in Leicester, as did 21-year-old Jannillea Glasgow with a 24-ball 44. But their development, along with that of teenage quick Jahzara Claxton is a long-term project.Shane Deitz, West Indies head coach, expected to have Henry back to face South Africa and said Matthews’ recovery would be managed through that series, but Dottin remained another month away from full fitness.”We had a chance to bring some players in and that’s what we’re looking for,” Deitz said. “Our season, so to speak, begins in February next year – 2026 is a massive year for us. We’ve got 15 ODIs that obviously go for the next World Cup qualification, a Test match [against Australia] and a World Cup.”What we do over the next eight months off the playing field is going to be the key thing for our performance next year. We’ve got a lot of things we can work on off the field, the team culture and then a lot of fitness and skill work. We’ve got a great opportunity now to play a few games against South Africa and then have a really good off-field programme for seven or eight months, and then come back in 2026 and take on the rest of the world.”

There’s little to be gained for Zimbabwe, but they still agreed to play what felt like a club game from the days before sportainment

Firdose Moonda04-Jun-2025There’s a distinctly Liverpudlian flavour among South Africa’s leadership group. So it’s hardly surprising they’re getting by with a little help from their friends as they prepare for the World Test Championship (WTC) final next week.Head Coach Shukri Conrad, batting coach Ashwell Prince, and captain Temba Bavuma all support the Reds – and are fresh off celebrating their league title win – and the first people they asked to lend them their ears were Zimbabwe, the guys next door.South Africa have not played them since October 2022, and haven’t hosted them since October 2018 or visited them since August-September 2014. But they convinced Zimbabwe to extend their stay in England to play them in a four-day warm-up game in Arundel. There are worse places to be in than the picturesque town in the South Downs – though both South Africa and Zimbabwe are actually based a 40-minute drive away in Portsmouth – and there’s little to be gained for Zimbabwe, apart from some insight into a team they will host later this month. But they’ve still agreed to play.Related

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So understanding have the not-so-noisy-neighbours been that they happily agreed to let South Africa bat first to give their line-up time in the middle, and then promptly even dropped Ryan Rickelton at second slip in the opening exchanges. Rickelton went on to top score with 62. But Zimbabwe weren’t quite as accommodating to Aiden Markram, who flicked 21-year old Alex Falao aerially to Wessly Madhevere at square leg, and departed for 13 off 15 balls.That meant Conrad was forced to show his tactical hand early when it comes to the least certain spot in the side: No. 3. Conrad had initially handed it to Tristan Stubbs in August last year, then let Wiaan Mulder bat there with a broken finger against Sri Lanka in Durban – seemingly because that was his only way of contributing in that match – and has also used Rickelton there briefly.Now that Rickelton has secured the opening berth, one of Stubbs, Mulder or Tony de Zorzi could bat at No. 3 at Lord’s. At Arundel, Mulder was given the spot, which is either an indication of how South Africa will line-up at the final or a bluff.On the evidence of the 49 balls he faced, Mulder appeared a serious candidate, and batted with a good measure of circumspection, especially as Rickelton was in full flow at the other end. Though Mulder looked aggrieved when given out lbw to a Tanaka Chivanga delivery that kept low, he made 26 runs, and was generally solid in defence.Stubbs was in at No. 5, which is a position that seems to suit him. He bedded in, and took 120 balls to score 58, but never appeared to be under pressure. Stubbs may be considered in that spot ahead of de Zorzi, the other batting option in the top five. De Zorzi was initially confused by spin and retired on 28, which indicates his status as a reserve player for the WTC final.Ryan Rickelton and Wiaan Mulder during the warm-up•ICC via Getty ImagesSouth Africa would have been most satisfied with the performances of Rickelton, in form across formats and playing attackingly, and Bavuma. This was Bavuma’s first competitive fixture in three months since the Champions Trophy, and he was in good touch. Importantly, Bavuma was able to play the pull and the hook comfortably. Those are shots which require him to extend his elbow fully, and hence he allayed fears that the chronic injury he carries is holding him back.As for Zimbabwe, for much of the day, it looked like they were doing their bit for continental unity, and it has been made easy for them. Their bills have been paid mostly by their hosts (the ECB provided a touring fee for Trent Bridge, and the ICC are paying for this add-on against South Africa). Their coaching staff – Justin Sammons, Charl Langeveldt and Rivash Gobind – are South African, so it has also been explained as something of a patriotic act.”A lot of their support staff have been part of the Proteas set up before, so we’ve got a really good relationship in terms of that,” Conrad told the media after the first day’s play was washed out.Overall, they gave South Africa as decent a challenge as they could on a flat track. Chivanga led the attack with a healthy dose of aggression and returned for spells late in the day, Victor Nyauchi got a hint of bounce, and the spin combination of Wellington Masakadza and Vincent Masekesa asked some questions of technique. More’s the pity that Blessing Muzarabani, their most reputed quick, was unavailable for this match after jetting off to the IPL, where he did not get a game.With heavy rain forecast for all of Thursday and most of Friday, South Africa had to manufacture some time in the field, and declared after 79 overs, with an hour’s play remaining. Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen opened the bowling, and combined to take the first wicket – Brian Bennet caught by Jansen at gully off Rabada – before Lungi Ngidi and Keshav Maharaj took over. Does that mean Ngidi is being thought of ahead of Dane Paterson at Lord’s? It may be too early to tell, given South Africa only bowled 11 overs.

“It would be foolish of me not to tap into whatever IP there is, and he’s current. He was successful against Australia, and knows how to bowl at Lord’s, and the nuances that come with bowling from the respective ends”SA coach Shukri Conrad on getting Stuart Broad on board

The only thing South Africa may not get is a full 90-over day in the field and additional time in the bowler’s legs. But they’ve made another plan for some extra help in that department too. They’ve recruited a former Notts team-mate of Prince’s, who is also an SA20 commentator, in Stuart Broad. He will attend part of their training session on Monday in London, and have dinner with the coaching staff in an evening designed for information exchange. The arrangement is unpaid.”I reached out to Stuart via Ash, because they obviously know each other. And I just said to him, ‘Is there any way we can just get together, spend some time – primarily with the coaches – and then share whatever you’ve got?’,” Conrad said. “He’s coming for dinner with the coaches, and then he’s probably spending an hour or so at our nets.Temba Bavuma was back in action after an elbow injury•ICC via Getty Images”It would be foolish of me not to tap into whatever IP there is, and he’s current. He was successful against Australia, and knows how to bowl at Lord’s, and the nuances that come with bowling from the respective ends.”Conrad also wants to be careful not to overload his team with “too much information”, and remind them that, at its core, cricket is about simplicity. There was nowhere better to do that than Arundel. The Castle Cricket Ground is nestled among greenery, has no big stands, and the only food stall is the quaint Tea Hut. The match was open to members only, and there were just a few hundred people in attendance who could hear every word, ooh and aah being said on the field.It was very much like watching a club match from the days before sportainment, and was as low-key as it can get the week before the highest-profile engagement of this South African Test team’s careers. Zimbabwe will be back home by then, knowing they were the friends who provided a little – or, depending on how things go, perhaps a lot – of help when their neighbours needed them most.

The three most expensive IPL spells have all come in the 2025 season

ESPNcricinfo staff27-May-2025The three most expensive IPL spells have all come in the 2025 season. Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) fast bowler Will O’Rourke recorded the third-most-expensive IPL figures, conceding 74 runs in his four overs against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Lucknow on Tuesday. Earlier this season, Jofra Archer bowled the most expensive spell, leaking 76 runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Mohammed Shami conceded 75 runs against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Hyderabad, entering second on the list. Here are some of the most expensive spells in IPL history:Will O’Rourke 0 for 74 vs RCB, IPL 2025O’Rourke was playing just his third game in the IPL having been brought in as Mayank Yadav’s replacement at LSG. Bowling the second over in LSG’s defence of 227, he was taken for five boundaries by Virat Kohli, as he gave away 22 runs off the over. He returned to bowl the eighth over and was hit for a six second ball by Rajat Patidar. But O’Rourke bounced back with wickets off the last two balls off the over, removing Patidar and Liam Livingstone to dent RCB. In the 14th over, he conceded 17 runs, with the on-song Jitesh Sharma hitting him for a four and a six. With RCB needing 28 off 18 balls, he was brought back to bowl the 18th over, but it did not go well – Jitesh smashed two fours and two sixes to kill off the chase and eventually seal RCB’s place in Qualifier 1.Related

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Mohammed Shami 0 for 75 vs PBKS, IPL 2025Shami might be among the best new-ball bowlers in India but the Hyderabad track and PBKS batters are sparing nobody. Prabhsimran Singh spoiled Shami’s day from his first over itself by carting him for three consecutive fours. Priyansh Arya, the other PBKS opener, went a step further by starting the third over with back-to-back sixes followed by a four and ended the over by dispatching a full toss over midwicket for six more. Shami then gave away 11 in his third over and would have been hopeful of conceding fewer in the 20th over when SRH were fighting back in the death overs. But Marcus Stoinis dashed those hopes by smoking four sixes on the leg side to end the innings and gave Shami forgettable figures.Jofra Archer 0 for 76 vs SRH, 2025Having entered the last auction as a last-minute addition after some back and forth with the ECB and a paycut in his central contact with them, Archer had the most inauspicious start to a new IPL season with his old side Rajasthan Royals (RR). He came on as first change after SRH had already racked up 55 in four overs and he was taken apart immediately by Travis Head for a 23-run over, which also included a wide. Head’s dismissal didn’t change Archer’s fortunes, though, as Ishan Kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Heinrich Klaasen carted him around for six more fours and three sixes to make him top this list.Mohit Sharma 0 for 73 vs DC, 2024Mohit Sharma was introduced in the 12th over of the Delhi Capitals (DC) innings in this game from 2024. Rishabh Pant welcomed him with a boundary and continued his assault in the subsequent overs. When Mohit returned to bowl the final over of the innings, Pant unleashed a flurry of sixes. He smashed the GT bowler for 6, 4, 6, 6 and 6, resulting in the most expensive spell in IPL history at the time.Basil Thampi 0 for 70 vs RCB, 2018A brutal night in Bengaluru saw SRH’s Basil Thampi have a torrid time in 2018. When Moeen Ali welcomed him into the attack with back-to-back sixes, it set the tone for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batting unit to pile on the runs. AB de Villiers, Colin de Grandhomme and Sarfaraz Khan joined in, hitting Thampi for five fours and six sixes, resulting in a forgettable day.2:03

Hayden on Archer: ‘Not sure I’ve seen a poorer IPL bowling performance’

Yash Dayal 0 for 69 vs KKR, 2023Rinku Singh stunned everyone by smashing five sixes in the final over to pull off an astonishing heist against Gujarat Titans (GT). And it was GT’s Dayal who bore the brunt. Dayal was tasked with defending 29 runs in the last over, with his figures already 0 for 38. However, he couldn’t find an answer to Rinku’s barrage of sixes, ending with 0 for 69.Luke Wood 1 for 68 vs Delhi Capitals, 2024Gerald Coetzee had a stomach bug, and his replacement Luke Wood probably felt a bit queasy himself after his first three balls went for 14 thanks to the baseball-style hitting of Jake Fraser-McGurk. After conceding just eight in the second over, Wood was taken for two sixes by Shai Hope in his third. In his fourth, Tristan Stubbs decided Wood had been hit in front of the wicket enough and hit four consecutive boundaries with scoops and reverse-scoops. The over ended up going for 26.Reece Topley 1 for 68 vs SRH, 2024RCB were hammered for the highest team total in IPL history at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, and it was Reece Topley who felt the heat the most. Despite taking the wicket of Abhishek Sharma, Topley’s figures were 1 for 43 after three overs. His final over turned into a nightmare when Abdul Samad hit 4, 4, 6, 6 and 4, helping SRH surpass the record team total of 263 runs.

And does Simon Harmer have the most wickets in a series at the lowest average?

Steven Lynch02-Dec-2025Simon Harmer took 17 wickets at less than nine apiece in the recent series in India. Has anyone taken more in a series at a lower average?</B asked Kelvin Phillips from South Africa

The South African offspinner Simon Harmer took 17 wickets at 8.94 in the recent 2-0 victory in India, figures that put him in rarefied company: only six bowlers have taken more wickets at a lower average in a series in which they played at least two Tests – and no one has done it since England’s Tony Lock took 34 wickets at just 7.47 against New Zealand at home in 1958.Lowest of all dates from South Africa’s first-ever Test series, at home in 1888-89: England’s Johnny Briggs took 21 wickets at just 4.80. Seven years later another England bowler, George Lohmann, took advantage of some more inexperienced South Africans to take 35 wickets at 5.80 in a three-match series.No one has taken more wickets at a lower average in any series in India (again playing in a minimum of two Tests): Jasprit Bumrah took ten at 9.00 apiece against Sri Lanka in 2021-22. In third place is Marco Jansen, with 12 at 10.08 in the just-finished series.Aiden Markram took nine catches in the second Test against India. Was this a record for a non-wicketkeeper? asked Tim Vallance from England

South Africa’s Aiden Markram, who was playing in his 50th Test, took nine catches in the demolition of India in Guwahati last week, all of them in the slips (although two required a dive into the gully area). It was a record for an outfielder in a Test, beating the eight of India’s Ajinkya Rahane against Sri Lanka in Galle in 2015. There are also seven cases of seven.Markram’s feat has been bettered only once in first-class cricket: in 1928, the England batter Wally Hammond caught ten in a County Championship match against Surrey at Cheltenham. It was definitely Hammond’s match: he also scored 139 and 143 in a comfortable win. In the next match at the college ground, he took 9 for 23 and 6 for 105 against Worcestershire, and scored 80 in an innings victory.There are two other instances of nine outfield catches in a first-class match: by Warwickshire’s Rikki Clarke against Lancashire in Liverpool in 2011, and Peter Handscomb for Victoria against Tasmania at St Kilda in Melbourne in March 2022.How many England openers have bagged a pair in Australia, as Zak Crawley did in Perth? asked Nick Jones from England

Zak Crawley’s run-less double in the Ashes opener in Perth was only the fourth time an England opener has bagged a pair in a Test in Australia, and the first since Mike Atherton in Melbourne in 1998, in a match England still won. The others were Dennis Amiss, courtesy of Dennis Lillee in Adelaide in 1975, and Trevor Bailey, dismissed twice by Ray Lindwall in what turned out to be his last Test, in Melbourne in 1959.Overall there have been just nine cases of an England opener bagging a pair in a Test, two of them by the unfortunate Atherton.Michael Atherton is the only England opener to have bagged a pair twice in Tests•Clive Mason/PA PhotosIndia have lost five home Tests in a row. When was the last time this happened? asked Maneck Bholl from India

Well, first of all India haven’t lost five in a row: in between the 3-0 defeat by New Zealand last season and the recent 2-0 reverse at South Africa’s hands, they overpowered West Indies in two Tests in Ahmedabad and Delhi in October. In fact India have never lost five in a row at home: their worst run is three, against New Zealand at the end of last year, England in 1976-77, Australia (two in 1969-70) and England (one in 1972-73), and West Indies in 1958-59.Away from home India lost seven consecutive Tests in England in 1967 and Australia in 1967-68. They lost six in a row in 1959, including a 5-0 defeat in England (England’s only such whitewash). Recent successes mean India have now won 185 of their 598 Tests, with 188 defeats to go with 224 draws (plus one tie).In a recent one-day international against Sri Lanka, Pakistan delivered 26 wides but still won. Was this a record? asked Fahad Ali

The match you’re talking about was the first ODI in Rawalpindi last month: despite conceding 26 in wides, Pakistan won by six runs in the end. It’s actually not a record: Australia beat New Zealand in Pune in 2003 despite donating 32 runs in wides, as did the United Arab Emirates against Papua New Guinea in Windhoek in 2023. There’s also two cases of winning despite conceding 31 wides: by India against Kenya in Bristol during the 1999 World Cup, and Pakistan against India in Mohali in 2007.There are some higher numbers in women’s ODIs: in three matches in 2001, the Netherlands conceded 56, 52 and 45 wides against Pakistan – but won all three games. At Merrion in Dublin in 2004, New Zealand gave away 43 runs in wides, but still beat Ireland; and in Dambulla in 2016, Australia defeated Sri Lanka despite conceding 41 wides.And there’s some updates to a recent question about umpires’ early decisions, from Charles Davis in Australia and Ashru Mitra in India:

There are a few refinements to the list of those who had to give a batter out from their first ball in a Test, as mentioned in this recent column. The man who gave Herbert Sutcliffe out from the first ball of England’s Test against New Zealand in Christchurch in March 1933 was Richard Torrance. His colleague was Thomas Burgess, also standing in his first Test, and from the first ball at his end Eddie Paynter was bowled.There was a curious incident in Port-of-Spain in March 1971, when the West Indian opener Roy Fredericks was dismissed by the first ball of the match, from India’s Abid Ali. The debutant umpire Stuart Ishmael gave Fredericks out lbw, but then noticed the bails had been dislodged, so he was recorded as bowled.Finally the umpire in the South Africa-India Test in Durban in November 1992 was Cyril Mitchley, not Karl Liebenberg: they were alternating on the field (partnering Steve Bucknor) in what was South Africa’s first home Test for nearly 23 years. Jimmy Cook edged Kapil Dev’s first ball of the match into the slips, where Sachin Tendulkar took a catch. It seems, from Cook’s own account, that although Mitchley was at square leg he did have to rule on whether the ball had hit the ground before it reached Tendulkar: to Cook’s horror, he decided it had not.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