It's always fun to watch your favourite bowlers picking up wickets in an interesting or must-win match. It becomes cherry on the cake when they pick hat-tricks and fifers. There are few bowlers who make history with their extraordinary performances and inspire young aspiring bowlers. Here we present you Top 10 bowling performances or bowling figures in ODI cricket (in ascending order).
10. Aaqib Javed
This former Pakistani right-handed pacer took 7 wickets conceding 37 runs against India, in Sharjah (1991). He took 7 wickets in 10 overs with an economy of 3.7. It was the Wills Trophy final where he took the wickets of Indian legends like Ravi Shastri, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev etc. This bowling figure remained a record till 2000.
9. Waqar Younis
This Pakistani legend and fast bowler took 7 wickets while conceding 36 runs in 2001 against England, in Leeds. It was the 7th match of the NatWest series where he had the economy of 3.6. He took the wicket of the likes of Michael Vaughan, Paul Collingwood, Paul Trescothick etc.
8. Trent Boult
In the 2nd ODI against West Indies, this New Zealand left-arm pacer took 7 wickets while giving away 34 runs. In this match, in Christchurch, with an economy of 3.40, he took the wickets of Evin Lewis, Shimron Hetmyer, Sheldon Cottrell etc. He was declared the Man of the Match. He is currently World no.2 ODI bowler in the ICC player ranking.
7. Tim Southee
It was the 9th match of the pool stage of 2015 ODI Cricket World Cup. In the match against England, in Wellington, Tim Southee of New Zealand, took 7 wickets while conceding 33 runs in 9 overs to get England out on their 3rd all-time lowest score in world cup history. With an economy of 3.66, he took wickets of Ian Bell, Moeen Ali, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes etc. He was declared Man of the Match.
6. Muttiah Muralitharan
Playing against India in Sharjah, Muralitharan took 7 wickets while giving away 30 runs. It was the 7th match of Champions Trophy, 2000, he took the wickets of the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Robin Singh, Vinod Kambli, Yuvraj Singh etc with an economy of 3. This Sri Lankan bowling legend was declared as the Man of the Match.
5. Andy Bichel
Playing in the 37th Match of ICC World Cup at Port Elizabeth, 2003, this Australian fast bowler took 7 wickets while giving 20 runs, against England. He had an economy of 2 and took wickets of Nick Knight, Michael Vaughan, Nasser Hussain, Paul Collingwood etc.
4. Rashid Khan
This young Afghan bowler, in the 1st ODI against West Indies in 2017, took 7 wickets while conceding 18 runs with an economy of 2.07. He took wickets of Shai Hope, Roston Chase, Jason Holder etc. His performance in St.Lucia shook the Cricket industry and he is considered as the current best leg-spinners. He is currently World no.9 ODI bowler in the ICC player ranking.
3. Glenn Mcgrath
This all-time great Australian fast bowler got 7 Namibian batsmen out for just 15 runs. In the 31st match of ICC World Cup at Potchefstroom, 2003, he bowled at the economy of 2.14 and it is considered one of his finest bowling performances. Australia, in this match, won by mammoth 256 runs.
2. Shahid Afridi
In his comeback match, Boom Boom Afridi took 7 wickets while giving just 12 runs, against West Indies. It was the 1st ODI against the Windies, in 2013, where Afridi, with an economy of 1.33 took the wicket of Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, DJ Bravo, Kieron Pollard etc. In the same match, he also contributed with the bat, helping Pakistan to win that match.
1. Chaminda Vaas
He is the only bowler to take 8 wickets in the One Day International Cricket. In the 1st match of LG Abans Triangular Series at Colombo (SSC), 2001, against Zimbabwe, Vaas took 8 wickets giving away just 19 runs. 0, 1, 16, 0, 6, 4*, 0, 0, 1, 4, 0 was the reading of Zimbabwe’s scorecard, thanks to this left-arm fast bowler. In this match, he played with an economy of 2.37.
It might come to our notice as to why there is no Indian in the list even though India currently has and produced great bowlers. There are two bowlers who featured in the Top 10 long time back. They are, first, Anil Kumble, who took 6 wickets against West Indies, giving 12 runs and with an economy of 1.94, in Kolkata, 1993. Second, Stuart Binny, who took 6 wickets and gave just 4 runs, against Bangladesh in Dhaka, 2014. He had an economy of 0.85 and took the wickets in just 5 overs.
It is to see what happens in future and how the records change and how many new inclusions are there in the list of Top 10 ODI bowling figures, 5 years down the lane.
