And who has the most wickets in the history of the tournament?
Steven Lynch25-Feb-2025Was Ben Duckett’s big hundred against Australia the highest score in the history of the Champions Trophy? asked Andrew Davison from England
That eye-catching innings of 165 by Ben Duckett in England’s opening match of the Champions Trophy against Australia in Lahore at the weekend was comfortably a record individual score for any Champions Trophy match.The previous highest was 145 not out, by Nathan Astle for New Zealand against United States at The Oval in September 2004. Andy Flower was dismissed for 145 for Zimbabwe against India in Colombo in September 2002.England’s 351 for 8 in Lahore was – briefly – the highest total in Champions Trophy history, surpassing New Zealand’s 347 for 4 in the 2004 match mentioned above. But Australia put that in the shade by making 356 for 5 to win. The previous-largest successful chase was Sri Lanka’s 322 for 3 to defeat India at The Oval in June 2017.As the Champions Trophy is going on, what records are there to be shot at? Who’s scored the most runs and taken the most wickets in one tournament? asked Michael Orange from England
Chris Gayle set the record for the most runs in one edition of the Champions Trophy, with 474 in India in October-November 2006. He was helped because West Indies had to pre-qualify for that tournament – in which they went on to reach the final – so he had eight matches compared to the usual five or so. Another attacking left-hand opener, India’s Shikhar Dhawan, is second on the list, with 363 runs in five matches in England in 2013. Dhawan was also the leading scorer at the 2017 Champions Trophy in England with 338, which puts him fourth on the list, behind his compatriot Sourav Ganguly, who hit 348 in just four matches in Kenya in October 2000.Gayle leads the way overall with 791 runs in all Champions Trophy matches, ahead of Mahela Jayawardene with 742 and Dhawan with 701 in the two editions in which he played.Two bowlers have taken 13 wickets in one Champions Trophy tournament: Hasan Ali of Pakistan in five matches in England in 2017, and West Indies’ Jerome Taylor in seven games in India in 2006-07. The identity of the bowler with the most wickets overall in Champions Trophy tournaments might win you a prize in your next sports quiz: it’s Kyle Mills of New Zealand, with 28.Harshit Rana got caps in Tests, ODIs and T20Is in the space of four international matches (two of the four were Tests). Has anyone completed their “full set” quicker than that? asked Graham Burt from Australia
Your right that by the time India’s Harshit Rana had played four international matches, he’d appeared in all three formats: two Tests in Australia late in 2024, then a T20I and a one-day international against England early this year.I knew that Joe Root had completed his set quicker, as his first three international matches were a T20I, an ODI and a Test, all in India in 2012-13. But I was surprised to discover there were nine others who fitted the three-match bill, including the Afghanistan legspinner Qais Ahmad, who took more than two years to do it. The others were Daniel Flynn (New Zealand, 2008), Ajmal Shahzad (England, 2010), Kyle Abbott (South Africa, 2013), Liam Dawson (England, 2016), Ibrahim Zadran (Afghanistan, 2019), Mohammad Musa (Pakistan, 2021-22), Gudakesh Motie (West Indies, 2021-22) and Rehan Ahmed (England, 2022-23).Rana was the 24th man to do it in the space of four matches. Among that group is the Indian wicketkeeper Naman Ojha, who took more than five years to complete his set, between June 2010 (when he played two ODIs and a T20I in Zimbabwe) and August 2015, when he made his only Test appearance, against Sri Lanka in Colombo.Misbah-ul-Haq is the only man to have three scores of 99 in Tests, though he remained not out in one of them•AFPWhich batter has been out three times for 99 in Tests? asked Saurabh Mehrabi from India
Actually no one has been dismissed for 99 three times in Test matches: Misbah-ul-Haq of Pakistan had three scores of 99, but one of them was not out. That was against West Indies in Kingston in April 2017; in the first innings of the next Test, in Bridgetown, he was out for 99.Misbah is one of nine men who have been out twice for 99 in Tests. The others are Mike Atherton (England), Greg Blewett (Australia), Sourav Ganguly (India), Simon Katich (Australia), Richie Richardson (West Indies), Saleem Malik (Pakistan), Mike Smith (England) and John Wright (New Zealand). Two others – the Yorkshire and England pair of Geoff Boycott and Jonny Bairstow – were out once for 99 and also had a 99 not out.There is one man who has been dismissed for 99 three times in international cricket. Sachin Tendulkar suffered this fate three times in ODIs, all in the space of five months in 2007: run out against South Africa in Belfast in June, caught behind off an Andrew Flintoff bouncer in Bristol in August, and caught behind against Pakistan in Mohali in November. Boycott and Richardson also had a 99 in an ODI to go with two in Tests (Richardson’s one-day 99 was not out; Boycott had a 99 not out in a Test, as mentioned above).For the list of 99s in men’s Tests, click here. There have been five 99s in women’s Tests, six by women in ODIs (one not out), and one case of 99 not out in a women’s T20I. No one has made more than one score of 99 in all women’s internationals.Is it true that the highest partnership in a T20 international was set by two Japanese players? asked Max Knight from Australia
The highest partnership for any wicket in a men’s T20I – indeed any senior men’s T20 match – is an unbroken opening stand of 258 for Japan against China in Hong Kong in February 2024, by Lachlan Yamamoto-Lake (134 not out, with 12 sixes) and Japan’s captain Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming (109 not out, 11 sixes). They both have a Japanese parent, but were brought up in Australia. The previous partnership record in a men’s T20Is was 236, by Afghanistan’s openers Hazratullah Zazai (162 not out) and Usman Ghani (73) against Ireland in Dehradun in February 2019.There have been two higher partnerships in women’s T20Is. Opening for Argentina against Chile in Buenos Aires in October 2023, Lucia Taylor (169) and Albertina Galan (145 not out) put on 350. Two days later, also at the St Albans club, Argentina’s second-wicket pair Veronica Vasquez (107 not out) and Maria Castiñeiras (155 not out) shared an unbroken stand of 290.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