Ask Steven

How many bowlers have taken over 150 IPL wickets?

And what's the highest ODI total without a century?

Of the 13 players with more than 150 career IPL wickets, Yuzvendra Chahal's 220 is the most, a tally he could still add to in the 2025 final  Getty Images

Harshal Patel recently took his 150th wicket in the IPL. How many have reached this landmark? asked Mohan Arshad from India
The Sunrisers seamer Harshal Patel reached 150 IPL wickets when he dismissed the Super Giants opener Aiden Markram in Lucknow last week.

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Harshal was the 13th to reach 150 wickets in the IPL. Legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal leads the way with 220 as I write, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar (196) and Sunil Narine (192) lurking in the 190s. All Narine's 192 came for Kolkata Knight Riders, the record for one franchise, while Chahal is currently the leading wicket-taker for two, with 139 for Royal Challengers Bangalore and 66 for Rajasthan Royals.

The next to 150 will probably be the Rajasthan Royals seamer Sandeep Sharma, who currently sits on 146. Umesh Yadav, who did not appear in the 2025 IPL, has 144 wickets, while New Zealand's Trent Boult has 143.

Was England's 400 the other day the highest ODI total without a century? asked Michael Robertson from England
England's 400 for 8 against West Indies at Edgbaston last week was the 28th total of 400 or more in one-day internationals (but the first one of exactly 400).

It was indeed the highest ODI total without a century, the highest individual contribution being Jacob Bethell's 82. The previous highest was South Africa's 392 for 6 against Pakistan in Centurion in 2007, when Jacques Kallis finished with 88 not out. It was also the highest ODI total without a hundred partnership - just: when England made 399 for 9 against South Africa in Bloemfontein in 2016, the biggest stand was one of 97.

All of England's top seven at Edgbaston reached 30, another first for ODIs. The nearest approach before was by South Africa against England in Bloemfontein in 2023, when Heinrich Klaasen was out for 27 and the rest all passed 30. That was one of 16 instances of six of the top seven all reaching 30. In four of those cases only six men batted and all of them made it to 30.

Harry Brook took five catches in the field at Edgbaston. Was this an ODI record? asked Jamie Salisbury from England
Yorkshire's Harry Brook marked his first match as England's official white-ball captain (he also stood in for Jos Buttler last year) by hanging on to five catches as West Indies subsided to 162 all out at Edgbaston last week. He was only the second outfielder to take five catches in an ODI innings, after Jonty Rhodes for South Africa against West Indies at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai in 1993. Rhodes also scored 40, so Brook - who crunched a rapid 58 - is the first to combine five catches in an ODI with a half-century.

Brook was the second outfielder to take five catches in an ODI innings, but the first to combine it with a fifty  PA Photos/Getty Images

Jayden Seales top-scored from No. 11 in the Edgbaston ODI. Has this happened before? asked Keeley White from England
Jayden Seales hit 29 not out after coming in at No. 11 for West Indies at Edgbaston last week, the highest score in their underwhelming innings of 162. Seales was the seventh No. 11 to top-score in a men's ODI innings. The first to do it was New Zealand's Chris Pringle, against West Indies in Guwahati in 1994, and he has been followed by Peter Ongondo for Kenya vs West Indies in Nairobi in 2001, Shane Bond for New Zealand vs Australia in the Champions Trophy in Colombo in 2002, Shoaib Akhtar for Pakistan vs England in Cape Town during the 2003 World Cup (his 43 was the highest score involved in this record), Rumman Raees for Pakistan vs New Zealand in Dunedin in 2018, and Craig Young for Ireland vs South Africa in Abu Dhabi in 2024.

There have also been two instances of joint top scores from the No. 11: by Joel Garner with 37 for West Indies against India at Old Trafford during the 1983 World Cup, when No. 9 Andy Roberts scored 37 not out, and Mohammad Amir for Pakistan vs England at Trent Bridge in 2016, when Sharjeel Khan also made 58.

It has also happened 12 times in men's Tests.

There's even been an instance in a men's T20I : when West Indies struggled to 125 for 9 against New Zealand in Kingston in 2022, the highest score came from Obed McCoy at No. 11. There are two other borderline cases: Rwanda's 115 against Malawi in Kigali in 2021 included 20s from No. 9 Zappy Bimenyimana and Pankaj Vekaria at No. 11. And when Afghanistan were skittled for 116 by Pakistan in Sharjah in 2023, the highest score was 21 from Azmatullah Omarzai at No. 11 - but a batter had retired hurt earlier, and a concussion substitute came in after Omarzai at No. 12!

I spotted that Len Hutton and Cyril Washbrook shared century opening partnerships in both innings of a Test twice, both against Australia. Have any other pair of openers done this twice? asked AK Srivastava from India
Len Hutton and Cyril Washbrook put on opening stands of 137 and 100 for England against Australia in Adelaide early in 1947, and the following August shared stands of 168 and 129 in the Ashes Test at Headingley - the match famously won by Australia, who chased down 404 on the final day.

The feat of century opening stands in both innings has been achieved only 12 times in all Tests, and Hutton and Washbrook are the only pair to have done it twice. The only other name to appear twice is Pakistan's Abdullah Shafique, who has been involved in the last two instances: against Bangladesh in Chattogram in 2021 he put on 146 and 151 with Abid Ali, while against Australia in Rawalpindi in 2022 he shared first-wicket stands of 105 and 252 (unbroken) with Imam-ul-Haq.

Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo's stats team helped with some of the above answers.

Harry BrookLeonard HuttonCyril WashbrookEnglandEngland vs West IndiesEngland vs AustraliaAustralia vs England

Steven Lynch is the editor of the updated edition of Wisden on the Ashes