Shami powers his way to 100

Queries Corner

How often have two individual hundreds been registered in the same innings in Twenty20 cricket? – Ajay Kartik, Madurai.

Apart from the recent instance that occurred in Bangladesh on January 25, there have been two other earlier instances in T20 cricket where two centuries have been registered in the same innings.

Gloucestershire (254-3) vs Middlesex at Uxbridge on June 26, 2011: Kevin O’Brien 119, Hamish Marshall 102 (both openers)

Royal Challengers Bangalore (248-3) vs Gujarat Lions at Bangalore on May 14, 2016: Virat Kohli 109, A. B. de Villiers 129* (batting at No. 2 and No. 3)

Rangpur Riders (239-4) vs Chittagong Vikings at Chattogram on January 25, 2019: Alex Hales 100, Rilee Rossouw 100* (batting at No. 2 and No. 3)

What has been the highest total made in the fourth innings of a Ranji Trophy match? Could you also please provide some details of the match? – Rajesh Kamath, Chennai.

The highest total made in the fourth innings of a Ranji Trophy match is Maharashtra’s 604 against Bombay while chasing a mammoth target of 959. The match played to a finish (i.e. a timeless match) was the 1948-49 semifinal played at the Poona Club Ground on March 5-11, 1949. Bombay finally won by 354 runs on the seventh day after the home side batted for 177.3 overs. The brief summary of the match:

Bombay won the toss elected to bat.

Bombay (first innings): 651 in 196.4 overs (Madhav Mantri 200, Uday Merchant 143, Dattu Phadkar 131; Yeshwant Gokhale 4/35)

Maharashtra (first innings): 407 in 162.2 overs (Manohar Datar 143, Madhusudan Rege 133; Keki Tarapore 6/119)

Bombay (second innings): 714/8d in 170.5 overs (Dattu Phadkar 160, Uday Merchant 156; Dattatraya Chaudhari 4/210)

Maharashtra (second innings): 604 in 177.3 overs (Sharad Deodhar 146, Madhusudan Rege 100; Dattu Phadkar 3/178, Keki Tarapore 3/180).

In the ODI match at the Wanderers against Pakistan on January 27, both Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis made fifties, 59 and 57, respectively. However, South Africa could only manage 164. Is this the lowest total in ODIs to contain two fifties? – – Anil Sawant, Vadodara.

It is, in fact, the fifth joint lowest all out total in ODI history that has two individual half-centuries. The lowest total of 142 has been registered twice – first by Kenya against Sri Lanka at Colombo RPS on March 1, 2011, when the Obuya brothers, Collins (52) and David (51), made fifties, and then by Scotland against New Zealand at Dunedin on February 17, 2015, with Matt Machan making 56 and Richie Berrington 50.

Is Jason Holder’s double century in the Bridgetown Test the only one by a captain batting so low down the order? – V. Ramu, Pune.

Among Test captains who have batted in positions below seven, Holder’s effort is the second highest after Pakistani captain Wasim Akram, who, like Holder, also batted at number 8 to register an unbeaten 257 against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura in October 1996. For the record, former Indian captain M. S. Dhoni is in the third position, making 144 against the West Indies at Kolkata in November 2011. He, too, batted at number eight!