Was India's 46 all out the lowest Test total by a team at home?

New Zealand took the lead in Bengaluru in the 44th over of the match - is this a record for the team batting second in a Test? asked Alistair Lynch (no relation!) from Bermuda
The sensational start to the first Test in Bengaluru last week saw New Zealand pass India's 46 all out in 43.3 overs (261 balls).

Surprisingly perhaps, that's quite a way off the record, and it's not even the quickest in 2024! The fastest known is just 30.4 overs (184 balls), by South Africa after bowling New Zealand out for 45 in Cape Town in January 2013. And also at Newlands, in January 2024, India took the lead over South Africa (55) from the last ball of the 33rd over of the match (198 deliveries in all).

We don't have ball-by-ball details of some early matches, and there are two where it's possible the lead was acquired quicker: at Lord's in June 1896, after Australia were all out for 53 in 22.3 five-ball overs (113 balls), and in Melbourne in February 1932, when South Africa were bundled out for 36 in 23.2 six-ball overs (140 balls).

Another questioner, Vijay Bedekar from India, asked how often the total of the team batting first had been passed by the second team's openers, as New Zealand managed in Bengaluru. This was the 28th such occasion: the highest total involved was 365, by West Indies in Georgetown in April 1972, when New Zealand's openers Glenn Turner and Terry Jarvis replied with an opening stand of 387.

In Bengaluru India followed 46 all out with 462, over ten times as many. Has any team scored more than ten times their first-innings total before? asked Hugh Abetz from Australia, among others
India's excellent comeback in the first Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru last week was only the second time a team had made more than ten times their score from the other innings (considering completed innings only). The only bigger difference came at Edgbaston in 1924, when South Africa were bowled out for 30 in their first innings, but recovered to make 390 in the second, 13 times as many. They still lost by an innings, as England had scored 438.

The biggest difference in a first-class match came in a famous County Championship match in 1922, also at Edgbaston. Hampshirewere bowled out by Warwickshire for 15 in their first innings, but following on, they ran up 521 - nearly 34 times as many - and went on to win by 155 runs.

Was India's 46 all out the lowest Test total by a team playing at home? asked Avyaan Ishaan from India
India's remarkable collapse to 46 all out against New Zealand in Bengaluru was the joint 18th-lowest Test total of all (England also made 46 against West Indies in Port-of-Spain in March 1994).

Six of the 17 lower totals were made in home Tests, including the smallest of all - New Zealand's disastrous 26 all out against England in Auckland in March 1955. Three of the others were suffered by South Africa in their early Tests in the 19th century, when they were very weak.

It was easily India's lowest at home, previously 75 against West Indies in Delhi in November 1987. More recently, in April 2008, they were bowled out before lunch on the first day in Ahmedabad for 76 by South Africa.

What's the lowest first-innings total that still led to a win in a Test? asked Rahul from India
I think this question was sent, rather optimistically, in the middle of India's excellent comeback against New Zealand in Bengaluru last week. If India had ended up winning, they wouldn't quite have broken this particular record: England beat Australia in Sydney in January 1887 despite being bowled out for 45 in their first innings.

In all, 13 Tests have been won by a team that scored less than 100 in their first innings. The list includes England's 81 for 7 declared in a rain-affected match against West Indies in Bridgetown in January 1935 and, for completeness, a rather questionable 14th instance - England's declaration at 0 for 0 in the controversial Test in Centurion in January 2000, when South Africa's captain Hansie Cronje accepted a bribe to help manufacture a result.

Joe Root made his highest score in his 147th Test. Has anyone else made their highest score at a later point in their career? asked Chris Goddard from England
You're right that Joe Root made his highest score (so far!) in his 147th Test, with 262 against Pakistan in Multan earlier this month. The only man to make his highest score later than that is the South African Jacques Kallis, whose best of 224 came in his 150th Test, against Sri Lanka in Cape Town in January 2012.

Kumar Sangakkara made his highest score in his 122nd Test (319 against Bangladesh in Chattogram in February 2014), and Sachin Tendulkar in his 119th (248 not out against Bangladesh in Dhaka in December 2004).

Your query set me wondering about the equivalent record for bowlers, and it's held by the recently retired James Anderson, whose best bowling figures came in his 129th Test - 7 for 42 against West Indies at Lord's in September 2017. His longtime team-mate Alastair Cook had his best bowling figures - his only wicket, in fact, that of Ishant Sharma - in his 105th Test, against India at Trent Bridge in July 2014. Glenn McGrath picked up his best bowling figures in his 104th Test, that man Root in his 102nd, and Allan Border in his 101st.