One-dayers uninterrupted, and sixless biggies

I noticed that Australia were bowled out for 199 in their very first Test against New Zealand, but went on to win without having to bat again. Is this the lowest total that resulted in an innings victory? asked Shrihram Moharil from the United States
Actually Australia declared in that match, in Wellington in 1945-46 - they closed at 199 for 8 - but won by an innings after skittling New Zealand for 42 and 54. Rather surprisingly, though, there have been two even lower totals that led to innings victories in Tests. At Old Trafford in 1888, WG Grace top-scored as England made 172; Australia were then bowled out for 81 and 70. And in Melbourne in 1931-32, Australia's 153 on a sticky wicket proved more than enough to defeat South Africa (36 and 45) with the bother of batting again. There was a near-miss at The Oval in 1912, when England (176 and 14 for 0) beat South Africa (95 and 93) by ten wickets. There have been four other Tests in which the winning side scored fewer than 199 runs in the match.

AB de Villiers scored a hundred in his 200th ODI during the recently series against England. Is he the first batsman to do this? asked Aniruddha Das from India
AB de Villiers' unbeaten 101 against England in Cape Town last week did indeed make him the first man to score a century in his 200th one-day international; the previous-highest was Brendon McCullum's 85 for New Zealand against South Africa in Napier in 2011-12. However, Sri Lanka's Tillakaratne Dilshan scored 101 in his 300th ODI, against England in Colombo in 2014-15, while his compatriot Kumar Sangakkara made 105 not out in his 400th, against Bangladesh in Melbourne during the 2015 World Cup. Sangakkara is also one of seven batsmen to have marked their 100th one-day international with a century: he made 101 against Australia in Colombo in 2003-04. The others to achieve this are Gordon Greenidge (1988-89), Chris Cairns (1998-99), Mohammad Yousuf (2001-02), Chris Gayle (2004), Marcus Trescothick (2005) and Ramnaresh Sarwan (2006).

Which cricketer played the most successive one-day internationals without missing one? asked Tirumala Reddy from India
The most successive one-day internationals for a team is 185, by Sachin Tendulkar between 1990 and 1997-98 when, after scoring 134 against Australia in Sharjah on his 25th birthday, he missed the first two matches of India's tri-series the following month, against Bangladesh and Kenya. Second on the list is Andy Flower, who played 172 successive one-day internationals for Zimbabwe from his debut against Sri Lanka in New Plymouth during the 1992 World Cup, when he started by scoring 115 not out. Twelve other players have appeared in 100 or more consecutive one-day internationals during their careers.

What is the longest team innings in Test history, by the number of overs bowled? asked George Carter from England
The longest innings in Test history remains England's 903 for 7 declared against Australia at The Oval in 1938, which lasted 335.2 overs (2012 balls). In a match with no limits on time, Wally Hammond declared at tea on the third day - apparently only after he had been assured that his opposite number Don Bradman would not be able to bat; he had broken his ankle while having a rare bowl during the marathon innings. Without Bradman, Australia subsided for 201 and 123, and lost inside four days, by a record margin. Next comes Pakistan's remarkable rearguard against West Indies in Bridgetown in 1957-58 when, with Hanif Mohammad scoring 337 in 970 minutes - the longest individual innings in Tests - they survived 319 overs, and forced a draw after following on 473 behind. The most balls bowled in any match is 5447 - 680.7 eight-ball overs - in the ten-day Timeless Test between South Africa and England in Durban in 1938-39. The most in a time-limited Test is 3652 deliveries (456.4 eight-ball overs) in the six-day final Test between Australia and South Africa in Melbourne in 1952-53, while the record for a five-day Test is 3645 (607.3 six-ball overs) by England and West Indies at Lord's in 1950.

Garry Sobers' 365 not out in 1957-58 got a mention in last week's column. In that innings Conrad Hunte made 260 - is that the biggest score that was not the highest of the innings? asked Jeremy Gilling from Australia
The West Indian opener Conrad Hunte's 260 in that famous match against Pakistan in Kingston in 1957-58 did set that particular record at the time. However, it was surpassed in 2006, when Kumar Sangakkara scored 287 against South Africa at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo ... but was outscored by his friend and team-mate Mahela Jayawardene, who amassed 374. Their third-wicket partnership of 624 (after coming together with Sri Lanka in a spot of bother at 14 for 2) was a record for any wicket in Test or first-class cricket.

Is Sachin Tendulkar's 152 in the 2003 World Cup the highest ODI innings without a single six? asked Piyush Kumar Mishra from India
Sachin Tendulkar's 152 against Namibia in Pietermaritzburg during the 2003 World Cup is actually the fourth-highest innings in one-day internationals without a six. Hashim Amla made a sixless 153 not out for South Africa against West Indies in Johannesburg in 2014-15, while Brian Lara's 153 for West Indies against Pakistan in Sharjah in 1993-94 also contained no hits over the rope. But the highest ODI innings of all without a six is Tillakaratne Dilshan's undefeated 161 for Sri Lanka against Bangladesh in Melbourne during the 2015 World Cup. Andrew Strauss also made 152 without a six, for England against Bangladesh in 2005; Amla (another instance, in 2012), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (1998-99) and Gautam Gambhir (not out, in 2009-10) all scored 150 in ODIs without the aid of a six. The highest score without a boundary of any sort is Adam Parore's 96 for New Zealand against India in Vadodara in 1994-95.