Which player has faced the most balls in a single T20I?
And does Jos Buttler hold the record for most runs in an IPL innings without hitting a four?
Steven Lynch
12-Apr-2022
Aaron Finch faced a record 76 balls during his 176 in a T20I in Harare in 2018 • Associated Press
Jos Buttler scored 70 without a four the other day. Was this a record for the IPL? asked Ashitosh Mehra from India
It's true that Jos Buttler didn't hit a four during his 47-ball unbeaten 70 for Rajasthan Royals against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Mumbai last week, although he did strike six sixes. He was the fifth to make an IPL fifty without a four. The highest score achieved by any of the others was 62, by Nitish Rana, for Mumbai Indians against Kings XI Punjab in Indore in 2017. Rana hit seven sixes, as did Sanju Samson in his 61 for Delhi Daredevils against Gujarat Lions in Delhi the same season, and Rahul Tewatia for Royals against Kings XI in Sharjah in 2020. David Miller's 51 not out for Kings XI against Royals in Sharjah in 2014 included six sixes but no fours.
It's true that Jos Buttler didn't hit a four during his 47-ball unbeaten 70 for Rajasthan Royals against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Mumbai last week, although he did strike six sixes. He was the fifth to make an IPL fifty without a four. The highest score achieved by any of the others was 62, by Nitish Rana, for Mumbai Indians against Kings XI Punjab in Indore in 2017. Rana hit seven sixes, as did Sanju Samson in his 61 for Delhi Daredevils against Gujarat Lions in Delhi the same season, and Rahul Tewatia for Royals against Kings XI in Sharjah in 2020. David Miller's 51 not out for Kings XI against Royals in Sharjah in 2014 included six sixes but no fours.
Has there been a higher score than Nat Sciver's 148 in a losing cause in any World Cup final - or any women's ODI? asked Kerry Langthorne from Australia
Nat Sciver's undefeated 148 for England in the World Cup final against Australia in Christchurch last week was easily the highest in vain in a women's World Cup final: the previous best was Belinda Clark's 91 for Australia against home winners New Zealand in Lincoln in December 2000. The only man to score a century in vain in a World Cup final is Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene, with 103 not out against India in Mumbai in 2011.
Nat Sciver's undefeated 148 for England in the World Cup final against Australia in Christchurch last week was easily the highest in vain in a women's World Cup final: the previous best was Belinda Clark's 91 for Australia against home winners New Zealand in Lincoln in December 2000. The only man to score a century in vain in a World Cup final is Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene, with 103 not out against India in Mumbai in 2011.
Sciver's score has been exceeded only twice in any World Cup final, most obviously by Alyssa Healy, with 170 earlier the same day in Christchurch. In the men's final in Bridgetown in 2007, Adam Gilchrist scored 149 for Australia against Sri Lanka.
The only higher score in a losing cause in any women's one-day international is Chamari Athapaththu's 178 not out for Sri Lanka against Australia in Bristol during the 2017 World Cup.
Which player has faced the most balls in a single T20I? asked Dilruwan Jayarathne from Sri Lanka
With a theoretical maximum of 120 balls (excluding no-balls), the most deliveries faced by a single batter in a men's T20I is 76, by Australia's Aaron Finch during his 172 - the biggest individual T20I score - against Zimbabwe in Harare in 2018. Ireland's Paul Stirling faced 75 during his undefeated 115 against Zimbabwe in Bready in September last year.
With a theoretical maximum of 120 balls (excluding no-balls), the most deliveries faced by a single batter in a men's T20I is 76, by Australia's Aaron Finch during his 172 - the biggest individual T20I score - against Zimbabwe in Harare in 2018. Ireland's Paul Stirling faced 75 during his undefeated 115 against Zimbabwe in Bready in September last year.
There are two higher instances in women's T20Is. For Rwanda against Mali in Kigali in 2019, Marie Bimenyimana faced 81 balls in scoring 114 not out, while South Africa's Dane van Niekerk faced 80 in making 67 against Pakistan in Sharjah in March 2015.
I noticed that South Africa's Jacques Rudolph was run out in three successive first-class innings in 2004-05. Was this a record? asked Gorden van der Merwe from South Africa
Jacques Rudolph's running misfortunes in 2004-05 (which ended when he was bowled for a duck in a Test in India) are actually quite a way short of the record, which is held by the old Yorkshire seamer Bob Platt. He suffered five successive run-out dismissals between 1957 and 1959, although that sequence was interrupted by four innings in which he remained not out. There are seven instances of a player being run out in four successive first-class innings; like with Platt, two of those also involved a not-out .
Jacques Rudolph's running misfortunes in 2004-05 (which ended when he was bowled for a duck in a Test in India) are actually quite a way short of the record, which is held by the old Yorkshire seamer Bob Platt. He suffered five successive run-out dismissals between 1957 and 1959, although that sequence was interrupted by four innings in which he remained not out. There are seven instances of a player being run out in four successive first-class innings; like with Platt, two of those also involved a not-out .
Which Test match included the most "one-cap wonders"? asked Jeremy Nicholson from Australia
The biggest numbers here date from long ago, when Test matches were few and far between. The match between South Africa and England in Cape Town in 1891-92 contained no fewer than ten men who were playing their one and only Test, while a similar one-off game between Australia and England in Melbourne in 1878-79 had seven. The first Test in England, against Australia at The Oval in 1880, had six men who never played again - including two of WG Grace's brothers - while the first post-war Test, between New Zealand and Australia in Wellington in 1945-46, also had six.
The biggest numbers here date from long ago, when Test matches were few and far between. The match between South Africa and England in Cape Town in 1891-92 contained no fewer than ten men who were playing their one and only Test, while a similar one-off game between Australia and England in Melbourne in 1878-79 had seven. The first Test in England, against Australia at The Oval in 1880, had six men who never played again - including two of WG Grace's brothers - while the first post-war Test, between New Zealand and Australia in Wellington in 1945-46, also had six.
There were five one-cap wonders in the Test between Australia and England in Melbourne in 1884-85 (the home side was much changed after a pay dispute), while five of the players who appeared in the match between Afghanistan and Ireland in Dehradun in March 2019 have not played another Test since.
Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo's stats team helped with some of the above answers.
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Steven Lynch is the editor of the updated edition of Wisden on the Ashes