Kohli's chasing record, and Shakib's double-seven feat

Hashim Amla joined the club of players who scored a century in their 100th Test match. How many have scored centuries in their 99th and/or 101st Test? asked Savo Ceprnich from South Africa
Hashim Amla's 134 against Sri Lanka in Johannesburg last week made him the eighth batsman to score a century in his 100th Test, after Ricky Ponting (who made two in 2005-06), Colin Cowdrey (1968), Gordon Greenidge and Javed Miandad (both 1989-90), Alec Stewart (2000), Inzamam-ul-Haq (2004-05) and Graeme Smith (2012). Ponting had also scored a century in his 99th Test, while Inzamam added one in his 101st. Brian Lara (2003-04) and Mahela Jayawardene (2008-09) both scored hundreds in their 99th and 101st Test matches. Eight others reached three figures in their 99th Test: Sunil Gavaskar (1983-84), Mohammad Azharuddin (in what turned out to be his last match, in 1999-2000), Sachin Tendulkar (2002), Gary Kirsten (2003-04), Sourav Ganguly (2007-08), VVS Laxman (2008-09), Virender Sehwag (2012-13) and Michael Clarke (2013-14). Ganguly, who made 239, Gavaskar, Lara and Laxman all reached 200. Apart from Inzamam, Jayawardene and Lara, six others made centuries in their 101st Test: Viv Richards (1988-89), Stephen Fleming (who scored 262 in 2004-05), Justin Langer (2006-07), Kumar Sangakkara (2011-12), Younis Khan (2015) and Brendon McCullum (2015-16).

Is it right that Virat Kohli now has more hundreds in successful run-chases even than Sachin Tendulkar? asked Praful Patel from India
Virat Kohli's 122 in that exciting match against England in Pune on Sunday was his 15th century in 63 successful chases - one more than Sachin Tendulkar managed in more than twice as many matches (127). Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sanath Jayasuriya and Saeed Anwar all scored nine hundreds in successful chases, while Chris Gayle, Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting made eight. Sunday's century was Kohli's 17th in ODIs while batting second, equaling Tendulkar's record. Dilshan and Gayle made 11, and Jayasuriya and Saeed Anwar ten.

Shakib Al Hasan's 217 against New Zealand meant he has scored a double-century and taken seven wickets in an innings in Tests. How many people have managed this? asked Azam Hossain from Bangladesh
Some nifty work from ardent Facebooker Michael Jones saved me the trouble of looking this up: Shakib's 217 in Wellington the other day, which followed his 7 for 36 against New Zealand in Chittagong in 2008-09, made his only the ninth player to have managed a double-century and a seven-for in Tests. The others are the Australians Allan Border and Jason Gillespie, Ian Botham of England, India's Vinoo Mankad, Wasim Akram of Pakistan, the South African Aubrey Faulkner, and the West Indian pair of Denis Atkinson and Frank Worrell. Mankad actually managed two centuries and two eight-fors, while Botham had one double to go with two eight-fors.

Clarrie Grimmett took 11 wickets in his first Test and 13 in his last. Has anyone done better than this? asked John Hackett from New Zealand
The Australian legspinner Clarrie Grimmett marked his Test debut, aged 33 in 1924-25, with 5 for 45 and 6 for 37 against England in the final Test of the 1924-25 Ashes, and signed off with 7 for 100 and 6 for 73 v South Africa in Durban in 1935-36, when he was 44. The only other man to take ten wickets in his first and last Tests was England's Tom Richardson, who started with 5 for 49 and 5 for 107 against Australia at Old Trafford in 1893, and finished with 8 for 94 and 2 for 110 in Sydney in 1897-98. The only man to take more wickets than Grimmett in his last Test was England's Sydney Barnes, with 14 for 144 - 7 for 56 and 7 for 88 - against South Africa in Durban in 1913-14.

Was Bangladesh's 595 at the Basin their highest Test total? asked Brett Carter from New Zealand
Bangladesh's 595 for 8 declared in the first innings in Wellington at the weekend was actually their second-highest total in Tests - they made 638 against Sri Lanka in Galle in 2012-13. Mushfiqur Rahim made 200 in that one, Bangladesh's first double-century. Tamim Iqbal improved on that with 206 against Pakistan in Khulna in April 2015, but Shakib Al Hasan's 217 in Wellington now tops the list. Bangladesh's highest total at home is 556, against West Indies in Mirpur in 2012-13, although they came within one of that in Khulna when Tamim made his double-hundred. New Zealand's 539 was their third total of 500 or more against Bangladesh (their record remains 553 for 7 declared in Hamilton in 2009-10), and their third-highest in Wellington after 680 for 8 declared against India in 2013-14 (when Brendon McCullum hit 302), and 671 for 4 v Sri Lanka in 1990-91 (when Martin Crowe made 299).

Who was the last man born in England to score a Test century for Australia? asked Jarrod Harte from Australia
This question was obviously inspired by Yorkshire-born Matt Renshaw, who piled up 184 for Australia against Pakistan in Sydney early in January. He's only the fourth English-born batsman to score a century for Australia, but it's not very long since the last one - Andrew Symonds, who was born in Birmingham, made two Test tons to go with six in one-day internationals. The other two, though, were from way back: Charles Bannerman, who scored an undefeated 165 in the very first Test of all, in Melbourne in 1876-77, and Percy McDonnell, who made three Test hundreds against England in the 1880s, were both born in London. Archie Jackson, who stroked a brilliant 164 on debut against England in Adelaide in 1928-29, was born in Rutherglen in Scotland, while Tom Horan, who scored 124 against England in Melbourne in 1881-82, was born in County Cork in Ireland. The only other overseas-born batsman to score a Test century for Australia is Kepler Wessels (born in Bloemfontein in South Africa) who made four, including 162 on debut against England in Brisbane in 1982-83.