In the third and final Test match India v Australia at Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, 18-22 March 2001, Harbhajan Singh captured 8-84 and 7-133 for a match total of 15 for 217 in 80.1 overs. This feat (15 wicket or more) has been accomplished only on 11 previous occasions.

The best figure returned in a single innings of a Test was by England's Jim Laker with 10 for 53 against Australia at Old Trafford in 1956. Laker took 9-37 in the second innings of the match. Laker ripped through Australia's batting to claim 19-90 at Manchester - the best ever match bowling figures in Tests -dismissing star players like Harvey, Miller and Benaud along the way. Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble stepped into the record books with the 2nd best Test bowling performance of all time in one innings, when he took 10 for 74 in Pakistan's second innings in March 1999 at Delhi. Kumble became only the second bowler in Test history to claim ten in an innings. Interestingly, after Kumble had taken nine wickets, Srinath sportingly bowled two wides and kept bowling outside the off stump to allow Kumble his tenth wicket.

It is also interesting that throughout Test history, it is two spin bowlers only, who have ever taken ten wickets in an innings. In the light of day, in spite of all the pace-oriented eras, starring greats like Larwood, Miller, Lindwall, Hall, Trueman, Tyson, Lillee, Thomson, Hadlee, Imran, Wasim, Walsh and the many other West Indians of the 70s and 80s, it is refreshing that an off-spinner and a leg-spinner are top of the pile.

The complete list of bowlers who have taken 14 or more wickets in a Test and eight or more wickets in an innings follows:

Test Match Cricket - Best Match Bowling
19-90	 JC Laker - England v Australia at Manchester		 1956
17-159	 SF Barnes - England v South Africa at Johannesburg	 1913-14
16-136	 ND Hirwani - India v West Indies at Madras		 1987-88
16-137	 RAL Massie - Australia v England at Lord's		 1972
16-220	 M Muralitharan - Sri Lanka v England at The Oval	 1998
15-28	 J Briggs - England v South Africa at Cape Town	         1888-89
15-45	 G A Lohmann - England v South Africa at Port Elizabeth  1895-96
15-99	 C Blythe - England v South Africa at Leeds		 1907
15-104	 H Verity - England v Australia at Lord's		 1934
15-123	 RJ Hadlee - New Zealand v Australia at Brisbane	 1985-86
15-124	 W Rhodes - England v Australia at Melbourne		 1903-04
15-217	 Harbhajan Singh - India v Australia at Chennai 	 2000-01
14-90 	 FR Spofforth - Australia v England at The Oval	         1882
14-99 	 AV Bedser - England v Australia at Nottingham		 1953
14-102 	 W Bates - England v Australia at Melbourne		 1882-83
14-116 	 Imran Khan - Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Lahore		 1981-82
14-124 	 JM Patel - India v Australia at Kanpur		         1959-60
14-144 	 SF Barnes - England v South Africa at Durban		 1913-14
14-149 	 MA Holding - West Indies v England at The Oval	         1976
14-149 	 A Kumble - India v Pakistan at Delhi			 1998-99
14-199 	 CV Grimmett - Australia v South Africa at Adelaide	 1931-32


Test Match Cricket - Best Innings Bowling
10-53 	JC Laker - England v Australia at Manchester		 1956
10-74 	A Kumble - India v Pakistan at Delhi			 1998-99
9-28 	G A Lohmann - England v South Africa at Johannesburg     1895-96
9-37 	JC Laker - England v Australia at Manchester		 1956
9-52 	RJ Hadlee - New Zealand v Australia at Brisbane	         1985-86
9-56 	Abdul Qadir - Pakistan v England at Lahore	         1987-88
9-57 	DE Malcolm - England v South Africa at The Oval	         1994
9-65 	M Muralitharan - Sri Lanka v England at The Oval	 1998
9-69 	JM Patel - India v Australia at Kanpur		         1959-60
9-83 	Kapil Dev - India v West Indies at Ahmedabad	         1983-84
9-86 	Sarfraz Nawaz - Pakistan v Australia at Melbourne	 1978-79
9-95 	JM Noreiga - West Indies v India at Port-of-Spain	 1970-71
9-102 	SP Gupte - India v West Indies at Kanpur	         1958-59
9-103 	SF Barnes - England v South Africa at Johannesburg	 1913-14
9-113	HJ Tayfield - South Africa v England at Johannesburg	 1956-57
9-121	AA Mailey - Australia v England at Melbourne	         1920-21
8-7 	G A Lohmann - England v South Africa at Port Elizabeth   1895-96
8-11 	J Briggs - England v South Africa at Cape Town	         1888-89
8-29	SF Barnes - England v South Africa at The Oval 	         1912
8-29 	CEH Croft - West Indies v Pakistan at Port-of-Spain	 1976-77 
8-31	F Laver - Australia v England at Manchester	         1909
8-31 	FS Trueman - England v India  at Manchester	         1952
8-34	IT Botham - England v Pakistan at Lord's 	         1978
8-35	GA Lohmann - England v Australia at Sydney	         1886-87 
8-38 	LR Gibbs - West Indies v India at Bridgetown 	         1961-62
8-38 	GD McGrath - Australia v England at Lord's	         1997
8-43* 	AE Trott - Australia v England at Adelaide		 1894-95
8-43 	H Verity - England v Australia at Lord's 	         1934
8-43 	RGD Willis - England v Australia at Leeds		 1981
8-45 	CEL Ambrose - West Indies v England at Bridgetown	 1989-90 
8-51 	DL Underwood - England v Pakistan at Lord's		 1974
8-52	V Mankad - India v Pakistan at Delhi			 1952-53
8-53 	GB Lawrence - South Africa v New Zealand at Johannesburg 1961-62
8-53 	RAL Massie - Australia v England at Lord's		 1972
8-53 	ARC Fraser - England v West Indies at Port-of-Spain	 1997-98
8-55 	V Mankad - India v England at Madras			 1951-52 
8-56 	SF Barnes - England v South Africa at Johannesburg	 1913-14
8-58 	GA Lohmann - England v Australia at Sydney	  	 1891-92
8-58 	Imran Khan - Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Lahore		 1981-82
8-59 	C Blythe - England v South Africa at Leeds		 1907
8-59 	AA Mallett - Australia v Pakistan at Adelaide	         1972-73
8-60 	Imran Khan - Pakistan v India  at Karachi		 1982-83
8-61*  	ND Hirwani - India v West Indies at Madras		 1987-88
8-64*	L Klusener - South Africa v India  at Calcutta	  	 1996-97
8-65 	H Trumble - Australia v England at The Oval		 1902
8-68 	W Rhodes - England v Australia at Melbourne		 1903-04
8-69 	HJ Tayfield - South Africa v England at Durban		 1956-57
8-69 	Sikander Bakht - Pakistan v India  at Delhi		 1979-80
8-70 	SJ Snooke - South Africa v England at Johannesburg	 1905-06
8-71 	GD McKenzie - Australia v West Indies at Melbourne	 1968-69
8-71 	SK Warne - Australia v England at Brisbane		 1994-95
8-71 	AA Donald - South Africa v Zimbabwe at Harare		 1995-96 
8-72 	S Venkataraghavan - India v New Zealand at Delhi	 1964-65
8-75*	ND Hirwani - India v West Indies at Madras		 1987-88
8-75 	ARC Fraser - England v West Indies at Bridgetown 	 1993-94
8-76 	EAS Prasanna - India v New Zealand at Auckland		 1975-76
8-79 	BS Chandrasekhar - India v England at Delhi		 1972-73
8-81 	LC Braund - England v Australia at Melbourne		 1903-04 
8-83 	JR Ratnayeke - Sri Lanka v Pakistan at Sialkot		 1985-86
8-84*	RAL Massie - Australia v England at Lord's		 1972
8-84	Harbhajan Singh - India  v Australia at Chennai 	 2000-01
8-85 	Kapil Dev - India v Pakistan at Lahore			 1982-83
8-86 	J Srinath - India v Pakistan at Calcutta		 1998-99
8-86 	AW Greig - England v West Indies at Port-of-Spain	 1973-74
8-87 	MG Hughes - Australia v West Indies at Perth		 1988-89
8-92 	MA Holding - West Indies v England at The Oval	 	 1976
8-94 	T Richardson - England v Australia at Sydney		 1897-98
8-97 	CJ McDermott - Australia v England at Perth		 1990-91
8-103 	IT Botham - England v West Indies at Lord's		 1984
8-104*	AL Valentine - West Indies v England at Manchester	 1950
8-106 	Kapil Dev - India v Australia at Adelaide		 1985-86 
8-107 	BJT Bosanquet - England v Australia at Nottingham   	 1905
8-107 	NA Foster - England v Pakistan at Leeds		 	 1987
8-112 	GF Lawson - Australia v West Indies at Adelaide		 1984-85
8-126 	JC White - England v Australia at Adelaide		 1928-29
8-141	CJ McDermott - Australia v England at Manchester	 1985
8-143	MHN Walker - Australia v England at Melbourne 	 	 1974-75
8-164	Saqlain Mushtaq - Pakistan v England at Lahore		 2000-01 

* on Test debut

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