What is the narrowest margin by which players have won the IPL orange and purple caps?

The race for the IPL's orange cap is very close this year. What's the narrowest margin anyone has won it by? asked Ramesh Kanwalkar from India
As I write, before the resumption of the IPL after the unscheduled break, things are very tight at the top of the run-scorers' table. Suryakumar Yadav leads the way with 510 runs, one ahead of Sai Sudharsan and two clear of Shubman Gill. Virat Kohli had 505 runs, and Jos Buttler 500. Yadav had played 12 matches, all the others 11. For the full list, which will be updated, click here.

The closest battle for the orange cap in previous years came in 2021, when Ruturaj Gaikwad finished with 635 runs, just two ahead of Faf du Plessis, with KL Rahul a further seven runs behind with 626. In 2013, Michael Hussey (733 runs) ended up only 25 in front of Chris Gayle. The widest margin was set by Buttler, whose 863 runs in 2022 was 247 clear of Rahul in second place.

Turning to the bowlers, there have been four seasons when the purple cap was won by just one wicket: 2012, when Morne Morkel (22) edged out Sunil Narine; 2019, when Imran Tahir (26) pipped another South African Test player Kagiso Rabada (25); 2022, when Yuzvendra Chahal (27) beat Wanindu Hasaranga (24); and 2023, when Mohammed Shami took 28 wickets, one more than Mohit Sharma and Rashid Khan. The widest margin in the race for the purple cap came in 2021, when Harshal Patel (34 wickets) led the way ahead of Avesh Khan with 24.

There was a total of 528 runs in the Sunrisers-Royals match recently. Was this a record aggregate for a match in the IPL? asked Munaf Ahmed from India
The second match of this season's IPL, between Sunrisers (286 for 6) and Rajasthan Royals (242 for 6) in Hyderabad in March, produced the second-highest aggregate in the competition: the only higher one was 549, when Sunrisers (287 for 3) beat Royal Challengers (262 for 7) in Bengaluru in 2024 (the highest aggregate in any senior T20 match). Generally, scoring is on the up: as this table shows, the eight highest IPL match aggregates have come in the last two seasons.

Ben Foakes didn't concede a single bye in a total of 665 the other day. Was this a record? asked Simon Salisbury from England
The Surrey wicketkeeper Ben Foakes reminded the England selectors of his abilities in the recent County Championship match at Edgbaston. He did not concede a bye in Warwickshire's total of 665 for 6 declared, which lasted 160 overs.

This was the 16th-highest first-class total without a bye, only five of them in the Championship. Highest of all is Victoria's 806 for 8 declared in Melbourne in 2009 , when Queensland's wicketkeeper Chris Hartley kept a clean sheet. The Test record is India's 726 for 9 declared against Sri Lanka at Mumbai's Brabourne Stadium in December 2009, when Prasanna Jayawardene did not allow any byes in 163.3 overs.

In the recent game, Foakes then saved the match for Surrey by batting for 7.5 hours and scoring 174 not out. Even this score isn't quite the highest in such a game: Nottinghamshire's Chris Read allowed no byes in Essex's 700 for 9 declared in Chelmsford in 2007, and then hit 240.

Mushfiqur Rahim of Bangladesh scored 127 after conceding no byes in India's 687 for 6 declared in Hyderabad in February 2017, while Gloucestershire's Jack Russell made 104 not out after keeping a clean sheet in Northamptonshire's 746 for 9 declared (the Championship record for a byeless innings) in Bristol in August 2002. In the 806 match mentioned above, Hartley bagged a duck.

Bob Cowper, who died recently, used to have the biggest difference between home and away batting averages. Does he still? asked Daniel Harcourt from England
The Australian left-hander Bob Cowper, who died earlier this month at the age of 84, scored 2061 runs in his 27 Tests - 1061 in Australia at an average of 75.78, and exactly 1000 in overseas Tests, at 33.33. The difference of 42.45 is still the record, for anyone with more than 1000 runs both at home and abroad. Next comes the old Indian captain Vijay Hazare, with 1113 at 69.56 at home and 1079 at 35.97 overseas, a difference of 32.59. He's just ahead of Pakistan's Kamran Akmal, who made 1078 at 56.73 in home Tests and 1570 at 23.43 away (-33.30); this excludes two Tests on neutral territory, in which he made 74 runs at 18.50. Then come Clyde Walcott, with 2584 at 69.84 in the West Indies and 1214 at 40.47 elsewhere (-29.37), and Mudassar Nazar, with 2467 at 53.63 in Pakistan and 1647 at 26.56 overseas (-27.07).

The leader the other way is Mohinder Amarnath, who scored 1370 runs at 30.44 in India, but overseas amassed 3008 at 51.86, a difference of +21.42. Next come Darren Bravo (1339 at 26.78 at home, 2199 at 46.79 away, +20.01) and Ken Barrington, who made 3347 runs at 50.71 in England but 3459 at 69.18 overseas (+18.47).

I noticed that Bob Cowper played his first and last Tests on the same overseas ground. How unusual is this? asked Jim Kirkham from Australia
Bob Cowper made his debut at Headingley in the third Test of the 1964 Ashes tour, and won his 27th and final cap in the fourth Test on the next tour four years later, also at Headingley.

Ignoring people who won their first and last caps in the same series, Cowper was the 14th man to play his first and last Test on the same ground on foreign soil. The first to do it were the England trio of Tom Emmett, John Selby and Alfred Shaw, who all appeared in the inaugural Test in Melbourne in March 1877, and bowed out at the MCG in March 1882.

They were followed by Joey Palmer (Australia; The Oval 1880 and 1886), William Attewell (England; Adelaide 1884-85 and 1891-92),Harry Graham (Australia; Lord's 1893 and 1896), Len Braund (England; Sydney 1901-02 and 1907-08), Arthur Fielder (England; Melbourne 1903-04 and 1907-08), George Francis (West Indies; Lord's 1928 and 1933), Teddy Hoad (West Indies; Old Trafford 1928 and 1933), Giff Vivian (New Zealand; The Oval 1931 and 1937), Sadu Shinde (India; Lord's 1946 and 1952) and Harry Cave (New Zealand; Headingley 1949 and 1958).

There have been four more since Cowper: Bruce Edgar (New Zealand; The Oval 1978 and 1986), Blair Pocock (New Zealand; Perth 1993-94 and 1997-98), Alex Tudor (England; Perth 1998-99 and 2002-03) and Daren Ganga (West Indies; Durban 1998-99 and 2007-08). This excludes current players - like Nathan Lyon (Galle) and Zak Crawley (Hamilton) - who will presumably appear again.

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