Number crunch: Rohit Sharma, Shimron Hetmyer in record books

Queries Corner

How often have three batsmen scored centuries in the same ODI innings? And how often have sides lost despite three batsmen registering centuries in the same innings?

– Aditya Prakash Tripathi, Kanpur.

Three batsmen scoring centuries in the same ODI innings has occurred on two occasions – both by South African batsmen against the West Indies and India in 2015. Needless to say, South Africa won both games easily.

1) Hashim Amla (153), Rilee Rossouw (128), A. B. de Villiers (149) versus the West Indies at Johannesburg on January 18, 2015. South Africa won by 148 runs.

2) Quinton de Kock (109), Faf du Plessis (133*), A. B. de Villiers (119) versus India at Mumbai (Wankhede Stadium) on October 25, 2015. South Africa won by 214 runs.

Marnus Labuschagne made his maiden Test century in Brisbane and then followed it up with two more Test centuries. Has this happened before?

– Salil Joshi, Mumbai.

Marnus Labuschagne at Perth became the fourth Australian and the ninth batsman to achieve this in Tests. West Indian Everton Weekes has the unique distinction of scoring four more successive centuries after registering his maiden Test century in 1948, that is, five centuries on the trot. In fact, Weekes was dismissed run out for 90 while going for his sixth successive hundred.

Is it true that Rohit Sharma has the highest ODI score for India in each of the last five years?

– S. Rajan, Nagpur.

Actually, in the last seven years, that is, since 2013, Rohit Sharma has been the Indian batsman with the highest ODI scores in each calendar year.

How often have both Indian openers scored ODI centuries in the same match and also achieved this against West Indian bowling?

– Ramesh Narayan, Surat.

In the Visakhapatnam ODI, both Rohit Sharma (159) and KL Rahul (102) became the only second openers after South Africans Hashim Amla (153*) and Rilee Rossouw (128) at Johannesburg in January 2015 to achieve this rather rare feat against the West Indians. Overall, this is the ninth time that Indian openers have managed to make centuries in the same match. Both Sharma and Rahul have done it once before against Sri Lanka at Leeds during the 2019 World Cup.

Note: All figures above are updated as of December 21, 2019.