Harry Brook scored 202 the other day, but England still lost. Was this the highest score made in vain in an ODI? asked Carl Jackson from England
Harry Brook's 202 against Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi last week set some notable records - England's highest ODI score (previously Ben Stokes' 182 against New Zealand at The Oval in 2023, and the fastest ODI double-century at 114 balls (beating Shubman Gill's 117 for India vs West Indies in Guwahati last month) - but Sri Lanka's stunning victory, reaching a target of 430, gave Brook a distinction he definitely didn't want - the highest individual score on the losing side in an ODI.
The previous highest was Charles Coventry's unbeaten 194 for Zimbabwe against Bangladesh in Bulawayo in 2009.
In all List A (senior one-day) cricket, there have now been 52 double-centuries, and Brook's was only the third not to result in victory for his side. Ben Dunk hit 229 not out as Tasmania piled up 398 for 1 in North Sydney in 2014, but Queensland nonetheless won by seven wickets. And, playing for Odisha against Saurashtra in Alur in 2025, Swastik Samal made 212 - but lost.
Brook's team-mate Sam Curran became the first England bowler to concede more than 100 runs in an ODI innings, finishing with 2 for 103 from his ten overs: he now occupies the first two places on this particular list, as he also went for 98 against West Indies in Antigua in 2023.
Was Pakistan's tenth-wicket stand at Lahore the biggest to win a one-day international? Or any one-day game? asked Ian Ballinger from England
Pakistan looked down and out at 154 for 9 chasing 242 against England in Lahore last weekend, before Shadab Khan and Haris Rauf put on 89 to conjure a remarkable one-wicket victory.
It was indeed the highest tenth-wicket stand to win a one-day international while chasing, beating the 64 of Deryck Murray and Andy Roberts which enabled West Indies to beat Pakistan at Edgbaston during the first World Cup in 1975. There are three other last-wicket stands of more than 50 to win an ODI.
In all list A (senior one-day) cricket, there have been six last-wicket partnerships of 100 or more, but only one of them resulted in victory: in a South African domestic match in Potchefstroom in 2006, North West were 187 for 9, chasing Free State's total of 287, before wicketkeeper Thando Bula (at No. 9) and last man Friedel de Wet added 102. The 89 of Shabab and Rauf is the next-highest last-wicket stand to win.
Shadab was only the third No. 8 to score a century in an ODI, following Simi Singh for Ireland against South Africa at Malahide in 2021, and Mehidy Hasan for Bangladesh vs India in Mirpur in 2022. They both scored exactly 100 not out.
Arafat Minhas followed 59 with six wickets as Pakistan beat England last week. Has anyone else had a fifty and a five-for in the same ODI for Pakistan? asked Ahmed Siddique from Pakistan
The 21-year-old slow left-armer Arafat Minhas, who is yet to play in a Test, won the match award against England in Rawalpindi last week for his excellent double of 59 and 6 for 40.
This was the fifth time a player had made a half-century and taken a five-for in the same ODI for Pakistan. Three of those were by Shahid Afridi, while Abdul Razzaq also did it once, against India in Hobart in 2000. Against West Indies in Providence in 2013, Afridi smacked 76 from 55 balls and then took 7 for 12.
In all ODIs, this particular double has been achieved on 26 occasions. In four of those, the player concerned made a century: arguably the best all-round performance of them all was by England's Paul Collingwood, who followed an unbeaten 112 with 6 for 31 against Bangladesh at Trent Bridge in 2005.
There were 19 players aged 30 or above in the Gqeberha Test. Was this a record? asked Kwasi Mensah from South Africa
It's true that 19 of the 22 players in the second Test in Gqeberha last week were over 30. That included the South African debutant Marques Ackerman (30), and the entire Australian team. The only under-30s were Marco Jansen (26) and Wiaan Mulder (28), and the other home debutant Matthew Breetzke (27).
The record was set a century ago: there were 20 players aged 30 or above in the match between England and Australia at Trent Bridge in 1926. The only exceptions then were England's Percy Chapman (25) and Australia's Bill Woodfull (28).
There have been four other Tests that featured 19 over-30s: three more in 1926, and the Ashes Test in Sydney in 1921.
Chinmay Sutar scored a quadruple-century the other day, in only his second first-class match. Has anyone bettered this? asked Mahesh Gupte from India
Chinmay Sutar amassed 400 not out for Mizoram against Nagaland in the Ranji Trophy Plate Group match in Sovima last week. You're right that it was just his second first-class match: he was out for 99 in the first, against Manipur in Nadiad the week before.
Sutar is 29, and moved from Mumbai after failing to break into the first-choice team there: he did play a few one-day games for them, and back in 2019 scored 104 not out for India's Emerging Team against Hong Kong in Savar. He is the first batter to score a quadruple-century as early as his second first-class appearance: the previous mark was set back in 1923, when Bill Ponsford made 429 in his third match as Victoria piled up 1059 against Tasmania in Melbourne.
Shiva Jayaraman of Cricinfo's stats team helped with some of the above answers.
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