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.
Dean 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.
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.