Although India lost the low-scoring Gqeberha T20I, Varun Chakravarthy stunned everyone with his unforgettable bowling performance. He recorded the joint-best bowling figures by an Indian spinner outside India.

Leading the four-match away T20I series by 1-0, India scored only 124/6 in the first innings after losing the toss in the second game. In reply, South Africa were once struggling at 86/7. 

Before Tristan Stubbs and Gerald Coetzee set a stunning finish to level the series, Indian spinner Varun Chakravarthy completely dominated against the Proteas batters. Starting with the wicket of captain Aiden Markram (3) in his first over, he dismissed the opener Reeza Hendricks (24) in his next over.

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Varun Chakravarthy bowled four batters

Varun changed his bowling end to start his third over. While Marco Jansen (7) was his third victim, Varun started his last over with the two most important wickets, Heinrich Klaasen (2) and David Miller (0), in back-to-back deliveries. While Klaasen was dismissed at long off, the other four batters were bowled. 

Varun finished the innings with bowling figures of 4-0-17-5. However, South Africa won the match by three wickets with six balls to spare.  

Here are some key stats on Varun Chakravarthy’s bowling performance

• Joint third-best T20I bowling figures by a spinner in South Africa. 

Best T20I bowling figures in South Africa

• Joint second-best T20I bowling figures against South Africa. 

Best T20I bowling figures against South Africa

• Joint fourth-best T20I bowling figures by an Indian bowler. Also, Varun delivered the joint second-best bowling figures by an Indian bowler outside India and the joint-best bowling figures by an Indian spinner outside India. 

Best T20I bowling figures by an Indian bowler