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Amla & McKenzie: tons

Sky Sports' cricket stats man Benedict Bermange has teamed up with skysports.com to bring you statistical highlights from our cricket coverage of the past week.

The glorious game will be brought to you in numbers every week as Benedict unearths relevant historical facts that have arisen from the past seven days in the world of cricket.

He will also be on hand to answer your statistical cricketing questions, be it about an existing record, player, team, ground, umpire, laws of the game or whatever your query may be.

If something has been puzzling you, or you have come across a fact or stat during Sky Sports' cricket coverage that you must have verified to cure your insanity, then ask Benedict.

Or if you've been stumped by a quiz question down the local, just email Benedict here or fill out the comment form at the bottom of the page and he will answer your questions.

Home away from home

Kevin Pietersen became the fifth England batsman to score a Test century against the country of his birth:

Working together

The fourth wicket partnership of 286 between Pietersen and Ian Bell is a new record for England's fourth wicket against South Africa, surpassing the 197 added by Wally Hammond and Les Ames at Cape Town in 1939.

Bell's partnership of 152 with Stuart Broad is a new record for England's seventh wicket against South Africa, surpassing the 115 added by Johnny Douglas and Morice Bird at Durban in 1913.

Bell became the seventh batsman overall and the first Englishman to be dismissed for 199 in a Test match. The others were:

Golden boys

England's total of 593 for 8 declared was their second-highest ever having been put into bat, after their 653 for 4 declared here in 1990 against India when Graham Gooch scored 333.

The all-time record is the 735 for 6 declared by Australia after Zimbabwe put them in at Perth in October 2003 when Matthew Hayden scored 380.

AB de Villiers continued his remarkable record of never having been dismissed for a duck in his Test career. Here is a list of the top ten batsmen who have played the most innings in their careers without being dismissed for a duck - surely James Anderson cannot appear in may top ten batting tables!

England enjoyed their third-highest first-innings lead against South Africa, but it was the only occasion in the top six when they have been unable to convert the lead into a victory.

Monty Panesar and Kevin Pietersen opened the bowling for England in South Africa's second innings.

The last time two spinners opened the bowling in a Test match was in Guyana in April 2003 when Stuart MacGill and Brad Hogg opened the bowling for Australia against the West Indies.

The last time two England spinners opened the bowling was way back in 1964 when Fred Titmus and Ken Barrington did so against Australia at Old Trafford.

Neil McKenzie's innings of 138 lasted for 553 minutes - the fourth-longest Test innings ever at Lord's:

Monty Panesar toiled through sixty wicket-less overs in South Africa's second innings. Only two bowlers have ever bowled more overs in a Test innings without taking a wicket for England than Monty did here:

The all-time 'record' is the 72 overs that Denis Atkinson bowled for West Indies against England at Edgbaston in 1957.

Tons at the top

All of the top three in South Africa's second innings made centuries. This is the ninth time this has occurred in Test history, including the top occasion when the top four managed it:

Benedict answers your questions...

GOOD FIGURES
What are the best Test Match bowling figures / batting aggregate for a player who was never picked for his country again, be it through injury, or non-selection ie. not through retirement. Regards, Edwin D'Souza
BENEDICT REPLIES:Five players have scored double-centuries in their last Test match. Of course, Gillespie may yet be picked again. Of these, only Nurse and de Silva actually retired following the match.

BAD SPELL
When Ireland got trounced by New Zealand, Peter Connell's nine overs cost 95 runs. Has a bowler ever gone for 100 or more in an ODI. Many thanks. Paul Norris
BENEDICT REPLIES: Only two bowlers have ever conceded more than a hundred runs in a One Day international. The first was Martin Snedden of New Zealand whose twelve overs cost 105 against England at The Oval in the 1983 World Cup. That was surpassed by Australia's Mick Lewis in the famous 2006 match against South Africa at Johannesburg. Lewis's 10 overs cost 113 runs, which is the current record.

DIDDY DOUBLE
Who is the youngest player to have scored 100's in both innings of a Test Match? Jonathan Hubschmid
BENEDICT REPLIES: To put it simply Jonathan, the youngest player to achieve that feat is George Headley who was just 20 when he managed it for West Indies against England at Georgetown in 1930.

Got a question for Benedict? Then use the feedback form below, or mail it into skysportsclub@bskyb.com (put Benedict Bermange in the subject field) or just click HERE!