What's the highest fourth-innings target ever?

Roston Chase took eight wickets in the second innings of the Barbados Test - are his the best figures by someone who didn't bowl in the first innings? asked Shyam from Australia
That remarkable return of 8 for 60 by Roston Chase in Bridgetown at the weekend were indeed the best Test bowling figures by someone who didn't bowl in the opposition's first innings. The previous best was 7 for 28 by the Australian offspinner Hugh Trumble, against England in Melbourne in 1903-04. That was Trumble's final Test appearance: England had been shot out for 61 in their first innings. The England slow left-armer Johnny Wardle took 7 for 56 against Pakistan at The Oval in 1954, after not being called on in their first innings of 133. In all there have now been 20 instances of a bowler taking five or more wickets in the second innings of a Test, having not bowled in the first.

Chase's figures were the sixth-best for West Indies in all Tests, and the fourth-best by a West Indian spinner, after Jack Noreiga (9 for 95 in 1970-71), Lance Gibbs (8 for 38 in 1961-62) and Devendra Bishoo (8 for 49 in 2016-17).

Was that amazing stand between Jason Holder and Shane Dowrich the biggest for the seventh wicket in a Test? asked Showkat Baksh from Guyana
The partnership of 295 between Shane Dowrich and Jason Holder for West Indies in Bridgetown last week was actually the third-highest for the seventh wicket in Tests - although it was the highest unbroken stand, so they might have been able to beat the record if they had needed a few more runs. Since West Indies were already 627 ahead, they didn't really require any more!

The highest seventh-wicket partnership in Tests also involved the West Indian captain and wicketkeeper at the time, and was in Barbados too: skipper Denis Atkinson, who made 219, added 347 with Clairmonte Depeiaza (122) against Australia in Bridgetown in May 1955. Five months later, in Lahore, Waqar Hasan and Imtiaz Ahmed put on 308 for Pakistan's seventh wicket against New Zealand. Imtiaz's 209 in that innings was one of only two scores higher than Holder's by a No. 8: Wasim Akram hammered 257 not out for Pakistan against Zimbabwe in Sheikhupura in 1996-97.

West Indies left England 628 to win in Barbados. Was this the highest fourth-innings target ever in a Test? asked Kyle Houghton from Australia
England's target of 628 in Bridgetown was preceded the previous month by New Zealand setting Sri Lanka 660 to win in the Boxing Day Test in Christchurch. They were all out for 236, so lost by 423 runs.

There have been 11 higher fourth-innings targets in all Tests. The biggest of all remains 836, set by England's captain Freddie Calthorpe against West Indies in Kingston in 1929-30. That was a timeless Test, which explains why Calthorpe, whose side had run up 849 in their first innings (a record at the time, and still the third-largest Test innings of all), batted again despite a lead of 563. The match lasted nine days, but still ended in a draw - West Indies were about halfway to their target, at 408 for 5 in their second innings, when England had to leave to catch the boat home after two days were washed out.

Has anyone had better one-day figures against Australia than Yuzvendra Chahal's 6 for 42 the other day? asked Bharat Sriram from India
Yuzvendra Chahal's 6 for 42 in the ODI in Melbourne last week were the joint-seventh-best figures against Australia in one-day internationals. The list is headed by the West Indian fast bowler Winston Davis, who claimed 7 for 51 at Headingley during the 1983 World Cup. Chahal's feat was actually the 50th five-for against Australia in ODIs.

Chahal's figures equalled the best by any bowler in an ODI in Australia: another Indian, Ajit Agarkar, also took 6 for 42 against Australia in Melbourne in 2003-04.

Pakistan recently played three left-arm pacemen in an ODI against South Africa. Has this happened before? asked Pranav Thiagarajan from India
Pakistan's pace attack in yesterday's one-day international against South Africa in Johannesburg was made up of three left-armers: Usman Shinwari, Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Amir. This is not terribly rare: a quick search throws up no fewer than 51 instances of a side fielding three left-arm quicks in an ODI, 22 by Pakistan, 15 by India, nine by Australia and five by New Zealand. But I can find only one instance of a team choosing four left-arm seamers in the same game: Pakistan did it against New Zealand in Auckland in 2015-16, when they unleashed Amir, Mohammad Irfan, Rahat Ali and Wahab Riaz. Pakistan lost by three wickets, which perhaps is why they haven't done it again.