And what’s the highest first-class total to not include any extras?
Steven Lynch30-Sep-2025Abhishek Sharma hit his 50th T20 international six in just his 20th innings. Has anyone reached the milestone faster? And who holds the corresponding record in Tests and ODIs? asked Ayan Ghosh from India
India’s Abhishek Sharma hit his 50th six in T20Is with the second of his five against Pakistan in Dubai last week. It was his 20th innings, in his 21st match. Abhishek was the third to reach 50 sixes in his 20th T20I innings, after Evin Lewis of West Indies and Austria’s Karanbir Singh, who has hit 113 sixes in 36 innings so far.But there is one man who got there quicker: Aaron Johnson, who was born in Jamaica but plays for Canada, hit his 50th six in his 19th T20I innings. For the list of most sixes in T20 internationals, click here.The quickest to 50 sixes in one-day internationals is the New Zealander Corey Anderson, who got there in his 33rd innings, one fewer than England’s Liam Livingstone. The fastest in Tests is Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi, in 46 innings, ahead of the Indian pair of Rohit Sharma (51) and Rishabh Pant (54).In Derbyshire’s recent match against Kent, Luis Reece opened the batting and scored a double-century, and in the second innings he opened the bowling and took five wickets. Is this unique? asked Evan Sweney from New Zealand
That performance by Derbyshire’s Luis Reece against Kent in Canterbury last week – 211 after opening then 5 for 63 after taking the new ball – wasn’t quite unique, but it does place him on a very select list.There have been only five previous instances in first-class cricket of an opener scoring a double-century and also taking a five-for after opening the bowling. Three of those were by WG Grace, with 217 and 5 for 72 for Gentlemen vs Players in Hove in August 1871; 261, 5 for 62 and 6 for 77 for South vs North at Prince’s (Chelsea) in June 1877; and 221, 6 for 45 and 5 for 75 for Gloucestershire vs Middlesex in Clifton in August 1885.The feat was also achieved by the future Australian captain Herbie Collins, with 235 and 5 for 52 for the Australian Imperial Forces against South Africa in Johannesburg in October 1919, and Gloucestershire’s Reg Sinfield, with 209 not out and 5 for 56 against Glamorgan in Cardiff in August 1935.What’s the highest first-class total that did not include any extras at all? asked Clive Bartram from England
The highest such total is 647, by Victoria against Tasmania in Melbourne in February 1952. It’s a long way in front of the next-most, MCC’s 484 for 4 declared against North Eastern Transvaal in Benoni in December 1948, the innings in which Denis Compton reached 300 in 181 minutes, still the fastest on record by time.The highest Test innings without any extras is India’s 329 against England in Chennai in February 2021, which beat the previous record by one – Pakistan’s 328 against India in Lahore in January 1955.Younis Khan was only ever dismissed once in the 90s in the course of amassing 10,099 Test runs•Getty ImagesIn Hamilton in 2008-09, New Zealand scored 279 in their first innings against India, and then 279 again in their second. How many times has this happened? asked Jatin Das from India
There have now been nine Tests in which teams made an identical score in both innings. The first such instance was in Wellington in 1953, when New Zealand totalled 172 in both innings against South Africa, and that has been followed by New Zealand making 208 and 208, again against West Indies in 1956 in Wellington; India 136 and 136 vs Australia in Calcutta in 1956; India 201 and 201 vs Australia in Sydney in 1981; New Zealand 161 and 161 vs Australia in Hobart in 1993; Sri Lanka 306 and 306 vs South Africa in Cape Town in 1998; Bangladesh 148 and 148 vs Pakistan in Chittagong in 2002; India 407 and 407 for 9 declared against Pakistan in Kolkata in 2005; and finally New Zealand’s 279 and 279 against India in Hamilton in 2009.Mohammad Azharuddin played 99 Tests and was only out once in the nineties. Among batsmen with 5000+ Test runs, is this the fewest? asked Yasser Rizwan from Australia
Mohammad Azharuddin scored 6215 runs in his 99 Tests, and was only out once in the nineties (for 97 against West Indies in Nagpur in December 1994). It’s not the record though, as Don Bradman was never out in the nineties in amassing 6996 Test runs with 29 centuries. The nearest he came to 100 without getting there was when England’s Alec Bedser dismissed him for 89 at Lord’s in 1948. Michael Vaughan made 5719 Test runs without ever being dismissed in the nineties, and Ian Botham 5200.Of those who had one dismissal in the nineties, Younis Khan ended up with the most Test runs (10,099). Wally Hammond (7249), Chris Gayle (7215) and Greg Chappell (7110) also scored more than Azharuddin.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions