| Player | Bowling Figures | Overs Bowled | Against | Venue | Match Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ajaz Patel (NZ) | 10/119 | 47.5 | India | Wankhede | 3 Dec 2021 |
| Kapil Dev (IND) | 9/83 | 30.3 | West Indies | Ahmedabad | 12 Nov 1983 |
| Jack Noreiga (WI) | 9/95 | 49.4 | India | Port of Spain | 6 Mar 1971 |
| Subhash Gupte (IND) | 9/102 | 34.3 | West Indies | Kanpur | 12 Dec 1958 |
| Keshav Maharaj (SA) | 9/129 | 41.1 | Sri Lanka | Colombo (SSC) | 20 Jul 2018 |
| Devendra Bishoo (WI) | 8/49 | 13.5 | Pakistan | Dubai (DICS) | 13 Oct 2016 |
| Nathan Lyon (AUS) | 8/50 | 22.2 | India | Bengaluru | 4 Mar 2017 |
| Angus Fraser (ENG) | 8/53 | 16.1 | West Indies | Port of Spain | 5 Feb 1998 |
| George Lohmann (ENG) | 8/58 | 43.2 | Australia | Sydney | 29 Jan 1892 |
| Mitchell Johnson (AUS) | 8/61 | 24.0 | South Africa | Perth | 17 Dec 2008 |
Key Insights
Ajaz Patel has delivered the best bowling figures in a losing cause in Test cricket. He ran through India’s whole batting lineup to end up 10 for 119 in the first innings. Despite that, New Zealand lost the 2021 Wankhede Test. Find out the list of all Indian bowlers who picked 10 wickets in an innings in first-class cricket.
Patel later added four scalps in the second innings, which gave him a match haul of 14 for 225, the best in a lost Test.
Kapil Dev’s 9 for 83 against the West Indies is the best bowling figures by a captain in a losing cause in Tests. Once Balwinder Sandhu opened the floodgates, Dev pierced through the rest of the Windies side in the third innings of the 1983 Ahmedabad Test.
Bishan Singh Bedi and Courtney Walsh picked up 4 five-wicket hauls each in losing causes, the joint-most by a captain in Tests.
Overall, Muttiah Muralitharan has taken the most five-fors in losing causes. Fifteen of his 67 five-wicket hauls ended up on the wrong side.
Muralitharan has also taken the most Test wickets in losing causes. About 26 percent of his career wickets (210) came in lost Test matches.
In 1950, Alf Valentine, recorded the best bowling figures by a Test debutant in a losing cause. Valentine was all over England’s top order to return with 8 for 104 in the first innings of the Manchester Test. And it is not the only record held by the Caribbean slow left arm bowler.
Jason Krejza is the other bowler to bag eight wickets in a losing cause on Test debut. He netted eight victims for 215 against India in the 2008 Nagpur Test.
Krejza grabbed four more scalps in the next innings to end up with a match haul of 12 for 358, the best in a lost Test for a debutant. His match haul is also the most expensive on Test debut.
Alf Hall’s 7 for 63 is the best bowling figure in the fourth innings of a lost Test match. He delivered the spell against England in the 1923 Cape Town Test, as South Africa failed to defend a 173-run target.
Explore every Muralitharan record he achieved in his career.
