5 times a fast bowler took a 5-wicket haul in a losing cause on Test debut ft. Shamar Joseph
Although cricketers mostly measure their success by team victory, individual milestones motivate players to push themselves in a career.
Like batters are often measured based on the number of centuries scored, bowlers earn their bread by picking up five-wicket hauls. However, only a select few are fortunate enough to achieve the same in their maiden international appearance.
And while milestones in any form of sport are dearly valued, the stakes are substantially higher when achieved at Test-match level. Impressing on debut forms the ultimate pedestal for a cricketer to sustain a lengthy and successful career.
However, the most bittersweet for individual players are those who put in a terrific individual performance on debut, but their side failed to emerge victorious.
The latest Test debutant to pick up a five-wicket haul in a losing effort among pacers was West Indian Shamar Joseph. The 24-year-old showed no sign of nerves in his maiden international appearance against Australia in Adelaide despite only six first-class games.
Aided by a valuable 36 with the bat at No.11, Joseph gained tremendous confidence when his turn with the ball arose. He dismissed legendary batter Steve Smith for his first Test wicket and provided the West Indies with hope at stumps on Day 1.
Buoyed by a sparkling showing on Day 1, Joseph ran through the Aussie top order the following day, dismissing Marnus Labuschagne and Cameron Green to have the hosts reeling at 67/3.
The youngster then completed his five-fer with the wickets of Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon later in the innings to restrict the Aussies to 283. Unfortunately, the batters let the side down again as the West Indies fell to a 10-wicket defeat to take the sheen off Joseph's heroics.
On that note, let us look at five times a fast bowler took a five-fer in a losing cause on Test debut.
#1 Tim Southee
One of New Zealand's fast-bowling greats, Tim Southee, was into demolishing opponents right away in his Test career. Making his Test debut in the third and final game of the 2008 home series against England at just 19, the right-arm pacer was immediately in his element.
Southee dismissed England skipper Michael Vaughan for his maiden wicket, followed by the scalp of Andre Strauss in his very next over to reduce the visitors to 4/2.
He returned in his later spell to dislodge centurion Kevin Pietersen before completing his five-fer with the dismissals of Stuart Broad and Ryan Sidebottom. Southee's 5/55 helped the Kiwis restrict England to 253 in their first innings.
Yet, a dismal batting performance and a dominant England second innings batting display meant the hosts suffered a 121-run defeat.
The debut performance catapulted Tim Southee to tremendous heights, and the right-arm pacer is New Zealand's all-time second-leading wicket-taker in Tests with 374 scalps, behind only Richard Hadlee.
#2 Aamer Jamal
Pakistan's newest pace-bowling all-rounder, Aamer Jamal, recently had a tour of Australia to remember with ball and bat.
With the bowlers getting hammered by an inspired David Warner in the opening Test in Perth, the 27-year-old was a lone warrior for Pakistan. Jamal picked up six wickets, including those of Warner, Travis Head, and Alex Carey, to prevent the run-away Aussie train from reaching 500.
He finished with figures of 6/111 to help arrest Australia from 304/4 to 487. However, Pakistan's batters struggled to combat the Australian attack and surrendered to a massive 360-run defeat.
The sorry tale of Pakistan's tour Down Under continued as they lost the series 0-3, but Jamal emerged as a future star, picking up 18 wickets in the three Tests.
#3 Marchant de Lange
Touted to be the next superstar of South African cricket, Marchant de Lange had one of the best Test debuts with the ball.
The tall right-arm speedster played his first Test for the Proteas at 21 in the 2011 home series against Sri Lanka. In the second Test in Durban, De Lange ripped through the Lankan lineup in the first innings to pick up a remarkable seven wickets to help bowl them out for 338.
His 7/81 was also the fourth-best figure by a South African bowler on a Test debut. Unfortunately for the now-33-year-old, the Proteas suffered a shocking 208-run defeat thanks to a dismal showing with the bat.
Despite a memorable debut, De Lange played only one other Test for South Africa against New Zealand the following year.
#4 Nijat Masood
In what appears to be a trend of debutant pacers picking up five-fers and their sides suffering defeat, Afghanistan's Nijat Masood is the third name to feature on this list over the past year.
At 24, Masood became the first Afghanistan bowler to pick up a five-wicket haul on his Test debut, with figures of 5/79 in the first innings of the one-off Test against Bangladesh last year. The medium-pacer also became only the seventh bowler in Test history to pick up a wicket off his first ball, dismissing Bangladesh opener Zakir Hasan in the second over of the match.
Masood picked up two wickets on the opening day and added another three in the first session on Day 2 to restrict Bangladesh to 382 in their first innings.
Yet, with scores of 146 and 115 in their batting stints, Afghanistan suffered a mammoth 546-run defeat to spoil Masood's party.
#5 Mark Gillespie
Former New Zealand pacer Mark Gillespie used the seamer-friendly conditions of the Super Sport Park in Centurion to perfection on his Test debut against South Africa in 2007.
After scoring a dismal 188 in their first essay, the Blackcaps were staring down the barrel of a massive defeat in the final game of the two-match Test series. The hosts dented the Kiwis further by reaching 251/2 before Gillespie pulled off a sensational spell of fast bowling.
The right-arm medium-pacer removed centurion Jacques Kallis, followed by the wickets of Ashwell Prince, AB de Villiers, Mark Boucher, and Paul Harris to complete a magical five-wicket haul. Gillespie's 5/136 kept New Zealand in the hunt by restricting South Africa's lead to under 200.
However, another sorry performance with the bat meant the visitors lost by an innings and 59 runs.