Does Suryakumar Yadav hold the record for being out off the first ball most times in an ODI series?

Was the match aggregate by South Africa and West Indies the other day a record for a T20I? asked Mason McKillop from South Africa
The match aggregate of 517 runs between West Indies (258 for 5) and South Africa (259 for 4) in Centurion at the weekend was not just a record for a T20I - it beat the 489 of West Indies (245 for 6) and India (244 for 4) in Lauderhill (USA) in 2016 - but also a record for any senior T20 match.

The previous mark had been set only a fortnight earlier, with an aggregate of 515 in the PSL game between Multan Sultans (262 for 3) and Quetta Gladiators (253 for 8) in Rawalpindi. The only other T20 match to produce more than 500 runs was a CSA T20 clash between Titans (271 for 3) and Knights (230 for 9) in Potchefstroom in South Africa in October 2022.

Suryakumar Yadav was dismissed first ball three times in the ODIs against Australia. Has anyone done this before? asked Dinesh Manraj from Trinidad & Tobago (among others)
Suryakumar Yadav's nightmare in the one-day series against Australia - first-ball ducks in Mumbai (lbw to Mitchell Starc), in Visakhapatnam (lbw Starc again) and in Chennai (bowled by Ashton Agar) - was the first time such a hat-trick had occurred in a bilateral one-day series.

There had been four previous cases of a batter collecting three successive golden ducks, involving different opposition: by the Sri Lankans Pramodya Wickramasinghe (1998) and Lasith Malinga (2009), Kenya's Shem Ngoche during the 2011 World Cup, and Hamza Tahir of Scotland in 2022. Malinga had another run of three innings in 2013 in which he was out first ball twice and also run out without facing.

Was Ashley Chandrasinghe's 46 in the Sheffield Shield final the lowest score by someone carrying their bat in a first-class match? asked Arsiwala Husein from India
The Victorian opener Ashley Chandrasinghe carried his bat for 46 in their first innings of 195 in last week's Sheffield Shield final in Perth. This is a long way from the lowest score by someone carrying their bat: playing for the Gentlemen of Kent against the Gentlemen of England in Canterbury in 1852, John Fagge made only 4 of a total of 90. Thirty years later, Lancashire's Dick Barlow (a serial bat-carrier; he did it ten times in all, four in 1882 alone) was undefeated with 5 in a total of 69 against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.

The previous lowest by an Australian was Alec Bannerman's 7 (out of 60) for the tourists against Kent, also in Canterbury, in 1893. The lowest in Australia remains 21, by John Rees, in what turned out to be his only first-class match, for South Australia (who made 54) against Western Australia in Perth in 1905-06.

Chandrasinghe batted throughout the first day's play in last week's final, finishing it with 46 of Victoria's 90-over total of 194 for 8 (they added only one more run next morning); several people asked whether this was also a record low. This is a tough one to work out as we don't always know whether a day's play was uninterrupted, but the lowest score yet unearthed by someone who batted through an entire day's play appears to be 37 not out, by Hashim Amla as Surrey held out for a draw after following on against Hampshire at the Rose Bowl in July 2021. Surrey faced 96.2 overs on that fourth day, finishing with 122 for 8 from 104.5 overs; Amla, who was 0 not out overnight, faced 278 balls in all, and hit five fours.

I noticed that Fawad Alam has scored five Test centuries, all against different countries (and all in different countries). Is this a record? asked Michael Murdoch from Scotland
Fawad Alam's five Test centuries have come against Sri Lanka (168 on debut in Colombo in 2009), New Zealand (102 in Mount Maunganui in 2020-21), South Africa (109 in Karachi in 2020-21), Zimbabwe (140 in Harare in 2020-21), and West Indies (124 not out in Kingston in August 2021).

Neil McKenzie of South Africa and India's Wasim Jaffer also scored five Test centuries against five different opponents. But another South African, Quinton de Kock, leads the way with six: during his 54-Test career, he made hundreds against England, Australia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India and West Indies. But three of de Kock's centuries came in South Africa; Fawad is the only man to make five in five different countries.

Can you solve an argument? Did Jos Buttler score the most runs in any IPL season last year? asked Narendra Kotak from India
Jos Buttler did lead the way in last year's IPL with 863 runs for Rajasthan Royals - but it wasn't quite the record aggregate, as Virat Kohli piled up 973 for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2016. Next comes David Warner, with 848 for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2016. Both Buttler and Kohli hit four hundreds; no one else has scored more than two in an IPL season.