Varun Chakaravarthy shined for India in the second T20I against South Africa played at St George's Park in Gqeberha on Sunday. He picked up his maiden five-wicket haul becoming only the fifth bowler for India to pick up a five-wicket haul. However, for the first time, the men in blue lost the match after one of their bowlers picked up five wickets in a T20I innings.
It was a memorable performance from the mystery spinner as he picked up five wickets for just 17 runs in his four-over spell. The fact that India were defending only 124 runs makes this effort even more special. However, it wasn't enough with South Africa eventually chasing the score down with an over and three wickets in hand.
Meanwhile, Chakaravarthy created an unwanted world record by registering the best figures from a full-member nation team in a losing cause. Mustafizur Rahman and Matt Short previously jointly held this record. The Bangladesh left-arm pacer had picked up 5/22 against New Zealand in 2016 while Short came up with similar figures against England in Cardiff earlier this year.
Best figures in losing cause in T20Is (full-member nation)
5/17 - Varun Chakaravarthy (India) vs South Africa in 2024
5/22 - Matt Short (Australia) vs England in 2024
5/22 - Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh) vs New Zealand) in 2016
As for India, the previous best bowling effort in a losing cause came from Bhuvneshwar Kumar against South Africa in Cuttack where he picked up 4 wickets for just 13 runs. Ravi Bishnoi also joined this list earlier this year when India lost to Zimbabwe.
Best figures for India in losing cause in T20Is
5/17 - Varun Chakaravarthy vs South Africa in 2024
4/13 - Ravi Bishnoi vs Zimbabwe in 2024
4/14 - Bhuvneshwar Kumar vs South Africa in 2022
The four-match T20I series between India and South Africa is now locked at 1-1. The third T20I will now be played on November 13 at SuperSport Park in Centurion and the team winning this encounter will not lose the series.
