Which batters scored the most runs in the powerplay during this season's IPL? asked Amit Kumar from India
For the answer here we have to make our third visit in three weeks to the phenomenon that is 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Not content with zooming past Chris Gayle's record of 59 sixes in an IPL season and hitting 72, Sooryavanshi also regained the lead in the table we mentioned in last week's column, for the best strike rate in an IPL season (with a minimum of 100 runs). His two breakneck innings in the playoffs left him with 776 runs at an average of 237.30 per 100 balls, putting him back above Jake Fraser-McGurk, who scored 330 at 234.04 in 2024.
Only four batters have ever scored more runs in an IPL season, with Virat Kohli's 973 in 2016 still clear at the top.
And to answer the initial question, Sooryavanshi hit 504 of those runs during powerplays this season (Abhishek Sharma was second this year, with 369). That's another record; David Warner collected 467 in 2016, at a strike rate of 150.16.
Who has reached three figures earliest in an IPL innings? asked Ahmed Samad from India, among others
I had a few of these enquiries after that man Sooryavanshi was out for 97 from the last ball of the eighth over of Rajasthan Royals' eliminator against Sunrisers in Chandigarh last week.
If Sooryavanshi had hit the ball that dismissed him for four - or more likely, perhaps, for his 13th six - he'd have broken this record too. But as it is, the earliest stage of an IPL innings at which a batter has reached his century remains 8.5 overs, by Gayle for Royal Challengers against Pune Warriors en route to his IPL-record 175 not out in Bengaluru in 2013.
The only other man to reach a hundred before the halfway point of an IPL innings is Adam Gilchrist, who got there off the last ball of the tenth over for Deccan Chargers against Mumbai Indians in Mumbai in 2008. And in third place is… Sooryavanshi, who reached 100 from the second ball of the 11th over against Gujarat Titans in Jaipur in 2025.
Four of Ireland's top six bagged ducks in the first innings against New Zealand. How often has this happened in Tests? asked Michael Juster from Ireland
There had been four previous occasions when a Test innings included four ducks among the top six, although Ireland's against New Zealand in Belfast last week was unique, as all four were inflicted by seamer Nathan Smith.
This also happened last year, in West Indies' catastrophic 27 all out against Australia in Kingston in 2025, with Mitchell Starc responsible for three of the ducks in the very first over.
The other instances were much longer ago: by India against England at Headingley in 1952, by England vs Australia in Sydney in 1895 , and Australia against England at Old Trafford in 1888.
New Zealand's Dean Foxcroft just missed a century on debut last week, after coming in at No. 7. Has anyone ever made a debut hundred from there? asked Lachlan McKenzie from New Zealand
Allrounder Dean Foxcroft helped New Zealand to a match-winning total against Ireland in Belfast last week: his 98 lifted them close to 500.
He was out off a top-edged sweep two runs short of becoming just the ninth No. 7 to score a century in his first Test. The list is headed by Sri Lanka's Romesh Kaluwitharana, who hit an unbeaten 132 against Australia in Colombo in 1992.
Foxcroft's innings was the highest for New Zealand on debut from No. 7, beating Luke Ronchi's 88 against England at Headingley in 2015. Note, however, that there have also been 11 debut centuries from even lower in the order in Tests, and four of those were by New Zealanders batting at No. 8 - Bruce Taylor, Scott Styris, Jimmy Neesham and Tom Blundell.
I read that Mushfiqur Rahim had completed 2000 runs in Mirpur. What's the overall record for one ground? asked Najamus Iqbal from Bangladesh
Mushfiqur Rahim completed 2000 Test runs just at the Shere Bangla Stadium in Mirpur in November 2025, and now has 2107 runs there. At the turn of the century the only man with 2000 Test runs on one ground was Graham Gooch, with 2015 at Lord's, but the list is now headed by Mahela Jayawardene, who piled up 2921 in 27 Tests at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo (which is his own home ground too).
Jayawardene also lies second on this list, with 2382 runs in Galle. Apart from Mushfiqur, the only current player who is likely to move up the table is England's Joe Root, who had 2166 runs at Lord's before the start of this week's match against New Zealand.
The others with more than 2000 Test runs on a single ground are Kumar Sangakkara (2312 at the SSC), Angelo Mathews (2253 in Galle), Jacques Kallis (2181 in Cape Town) and Dimuth Karunaratne (2040 in Galle). Dinesh Chandimal has made 1979 runs in Galle, but seems to be out of favour with the Sri Lankan selectors at the moment.
Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo's stats team helped with some of the above answers.
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