Pakistan’s Waqar Younis is the only bowler to pick five 6-wicket hauls in ODI cricket. No other bowler has picked 6+ wickets in an ODI game more than twice in their career.
The Pakistani bowler also tops the ODI chart for the most 5-wicket hauls. He picked 5+ wickets 13 times in the 50-over format, which is three more than the legendary Muttiah Muralitharan, even after playing 83 games less than the legendary Sri Lankan.
Waqar Younis is a classic exemplar of swing bowling in cricket. He, along with his deadly compatriot, Wasim Akram, are two of the best swing bowlers in cricket who can swing both sides.
Both these bowlers also top the list of bowlers who have dismissed most batsmen by clearing their stumps in ODIs.
This article will list the bowlers who have picked the most number of 6-wicket hauls in an ODI match 2 or more times.
Most 6 Wicket Hauls in ODI
| BOWLER | 6-WICKET HAULS | INNINGS BOWLED | TOTAL WICKETS | BEST BOWLING |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waqar Younis (PAK) | 5 | 258 | 416 | 7/36 |
| Chaminda Vaas (SL) | 2 | 320 | 400 | 8/19 |
| Trent Boult (NZ) | 2 | 93 | 169 | 7/34 |
| Imran Tahir (SA) | 2 | 104 | 173 | 7/45 |
| Rashid Khan (AFG) | 2 | 79 | 158 | 7/18 |
| Shahid Afridi (PAK) | 2 | 372 | 395 | 7/12 |
| Tim Southee (NZ) | 2 | 141 | 190 | 7/33 |
| Shane Bond (NZ) | 2 | 80 | 147 | 6/19 |
| Akila Dananjaya (SL) | 2 | 37 | 56 | 6/29 |
| Sandeep Lamichhane (NEP) | 2 | 27 | 64 | 6/11 |
| Ajantha Mendis (SL) | 2 | 84 | 152 | 6/13 |
| Ashish Nehra (IND) | 2 | 120 | 157 | 6/23 |
| Henry Olonga (ZIM) | 2 | 49 | 58 | 6/18 |
| Mitchell Starc (AUS) | 2 | 99 | 195 | 6/28 |
| Chris Woakes (ENG) | 2 | 102 | 155 | 6/45 |
Key Stats
This article is more about Waqar Younis and his achievements in white-ball cricket; as you can see, he is clearly ruling the table above. The Pakistani pace bowler is the only batsman to pick back-to-back 5-wicket hauls thrice in his career.
He is also the only player in ODI history to pick two 6-wicket hauls in a row. In the 2001 NatWest Series in England, Waqar displayed two consecutive match-winning performances – one bowling first (7 for 36) vs England at Leeds and another while successfully defending Australia (6 for 59) at Trent Bridge.
His 7-wicket show against England is also his best-ever ODI performance, and while doing so, he became the third cricketer to pick seven wickets in an ODI innings. Overall twelve bowlers have picked a 7-wicket haul, and no bowler has done it more than once.
Chaminda Vaas’s 8/19 against Zimbabwe in Colombo is the best-ever bowling performance of a bowler in ODI cricket. This wrapped up the entire Zimbabwean batting line-up at just 38 runs in the game – the second lowest ODI score of the team.
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