Batsmen and bowlers, both are important to win a cricket match but, if you had to chose one lethal artillery and manage with other department of second class, how would you collect your eleven? I'll chose best bowlers and depend on my sub-standard batsmen to put up a fight, specially in a tournament as big as World cup where you don't play same team again and again but a verity whose batsmen may not be able to adjust to my wicket takers..
Glenn McGrath was one of the prime reason why Australia won a hattrick of world cups (1999, 2003 & 2007). Right arm medium pacer, one of the most accurate bowler to ever grace the game, was unplayable with new ball and didn't give nothing away with older one. McGrath retired with 381 one day wickets from 250 ODI, at an economy of 3.88. 71 of those McGrath wickets came in World cups, the most by any other bowler.
McGrath also holds the record of best bowling figures in one day World cups, taking 7 wickets against minnows Namibia who were bowled out for just 45 that day at Potchefstroom, in 14 overs. Interestingly Andy Bichel, another aussie pacer, almost toppled McGrath's feat just 3 after, eating up 7 English batsmen but he ended up conceeding 5 runs more.
McGrath broke the record of Winston Davies, who was the first bowler to take 7 wickets in world cups of one day internationals. It was a semifinal match at Leeds in which Davis scripted Aussie demolision but do you know captain Clive Llyod dropped him for next match (the final) against India in 1983? and went on to lose the cup!
In following, we've a list of bowlers with most wickets in world cups, limited to 30 sticks, followed by best figures in an innings, restricted upto 5 wickets for less than 30 runs.
| Most wickets in one day world cup career. |
| Bowler (country) |
Mts |
Wkts |
Ovs |
Runs |
Best |
Eco |
| Glenn McGrath (Australia) |
39 |
71 |
325.5 |
1292 |
7/15 |
3.96 |
| Muthiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) |
39 |
68 |
335.3 |
1296 |
4/19 |
3.86 |
| Wasim Akram (Pakistan) |
38 |
55 |
324.3 |
1311 |
5/28 |
4.04 |
| Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka) |
31 |
49 |
261.4 |
1040 |
6/25 |
3.97 |
| Javagal Srinath (India) |
34 |
44 |
283.2 |
1224 |
4/30 |
4.32 |
| Zaheer Khan (India) |
22 |
42 |
188.5 |
830 |
4/42 |
4.39 |
| Allan Donald (South Africa) |
25 |
38 |
218.5 |
913 |
4/17 |
4.17 |
| Jacob Oram (New Zealand) |
23 |
36 |
182.2 |
768 |
4/39 |
4.21 |
| Brett Lee (Australia) |
17 |
35 |
137.3 |
629 |
5/42 |
4.57 |
| Brad Hogg (Australia) |
21 |
34 |
158.3 |
654 |
4/27 |
4.12 |
| Imran Khan (Pakistan) |
28 |
34 |
169.3 |
655 |
4/37 |
3.86 |
| Shaun Tait (Australia) |
18 |
34 |
136.3 |
731 |
4/39 |
5.35 |
| Shane Warne (Australia) |
17 |
32 |
162.5 |
624 |
4/29 |
3.83 |
| Chris Harris (New Zealand) |
28 |
32 |
194.2 |
861 |
4/7 |
4.43 |
| Anil Kumble (India) |
18 |
31 |
173.1 |
708 |
4/32 |
4.08 |
| Shaun Pollock (South Africa) |
31 |
31 |
269.0 |
970 |
5/36 |
3.60 |
| Shane Bond (New Zealand) |
16 |
30 |
147.4 |
518 |
6/23 |
3.50 |
| Ian Botham (England) |
22 |
30 |
222.0 |
762 |
4/31 |
3.43 |
| Shoaib Akhtar (Pakistan) |
19 |
30 |
148.5 |
765 |
4/46 |
5.13 |
| Best bowling figures in one day (ODI) world cups. |
| Bowler (country) |
Ovs |
Wkts |
Runs |
Versus |
Venue |
Date |
| Glenn McGrath (Australia) |
7.0 |
7 |
15 |
Namibia |
P'stroom |
27 Feb 2003 |
| Andy Bichel (Australia) |
10.0 |
7 |
20 |
England |
Port Elizabeth |
2 Mar 2003 |
| Winston Davis (West Indies) |
10.3 |
7 |
51 |
Australia |
Leeds |
11 Jun 1983 |
| Gary Gilmour (Australia) |
12.0 |
6 |
14 |
England |
Leeds |
18 Jun 1975 |
| Ashish Nehra (India) |
10.0 |
6 |
23 |
England |
Durban |
26 Feb 2003 |
| Shane Bond (New Zealand) |
10.0 |
6 |
23 |
Australia |
Port Elizabeth |
11 Mar 2003 |
| Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka) |
9.1 |
6 |
25 |
Bangladesh |
Pitrmasburg |
14 Feb 2003 |
| Kemar Roach (West Indies) |
8.3 |
6 |
27 |
Netherlands |
Delhi |
28 Feb 2011 |
| Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka) |
7.4 |
6 |
38 |
Kenya |
Colombo |
1 Mar 2011 |
| Ken MacLeay (Australia) |
11.5 |
6 |
39 |
India |
Trent Bridge |
13 Jun 1983 |
| Glenn McGrath (Australia) |
8.4 |
5 |
14 |
West Indies |
Old Trafford |
30 May 1999 |
| Shahid Afridi (Pakistan) |
8.0 |
5 |
16 |
Kenya |
Hambantota |
23 Feb 2011 |
| Andrew Hall (South Africa) |
10.0 |
5 |
18 |
England |
Barbados |
17 Apr 2007 |
| Allan Hurst (Australia) |
10.0 |
5 |
21 |
Canada |
Edgbaston |
16 Jun 1979 |
| Paul Strang (Zimbabwe) |
9.4 |
5 |
21 |
Kenya |
Patna |
27 Feb 1996 |
| Lance Klusner (South Africa) |
8.3 |
5 |
21 |
Kenya |
Amstelveen |
26 May 1999 |
| Shahid Afridi (Pakistan) |
10.0 |
5 |
23 |
Canada |
Colombo |
3 Mar 2011 |
| Collins Obuya (Kenya) |
10.0 |
5 |
24 |
Sri Lanka |
Nairobi |
24 Feb 2003 |
| Richard Hadlee (New Zealand) |
10.1 |
5 |
25 |
Sri Lanka |
Bristol |
13 Jun 1983 |
| Venkatesh Prasad (India) |
9.3 |
5 |
27 |
Pakistan |
Old Trafford |
8 Jun 1999 |
| Austin Codrington (Canada) |
9.0 |
5 |
27 |
Bangladesh |
Durban |
11 Feb 2003 |
| Wasim Akram (Pakistan) |
9.0 |
5 |
28 |
Namibia |
Kimberley |
16 Feb 2003 |
| Shaukat Dunkanwala (UAE) |
10.0 |
5 |
29 |
Netherlands |
Lahore |
1 Mar 1996 |
| Yuvraj Singh (India) |
10.0 |
5 |
31 |
Ireland |
Bengaluru |
6 Mar 2011 |
| Robin Singh (India) |
9.3 |
5 |
31 |
Sri Lanka |
Taunton |
26 May 1999 |
To finish off a complete world cup bowling article, here's a list of bowlers with most wickets in one tournament. Yet again, Glenn McGrath leads the way..
| Most wickets by a bowler in one world cup tournament or series. |
| Bowler (country) |
Wkts |
Mts |
Ovs |
Runs |
Eco. |
Best |
World cup |
| Glenn McGrath (Australia) |
26 |
11 |
80.5 |
357 |
4.41 |
3/14 |
2007 |
| Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka) |
23 |
10 |
88.0 |
331 |
3.76 |
6/25 |
2003 |
| Muthaih Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) |
23 |
10 |
84.4 |
351 |
4.14 |
4/19 |
2007 |
| Shaun Tait (Australia) |
23 |
11 |
84.3 |
467 |
5.52 |
4/39 |
2007 |
| Brett Lee (Australia) |
22 |
10 |
83.1 |
394 |
4.73 |
5/42 |
2003 |
| Shahid Afridi (Pakistan) |
21 |
8 |
74.3 |
270 |
3.62 |
5/16 |
2011 |
| Glenn McGrath (Australia) |
21 |
11 |
87.0 |
310 |
3.56 |
7/15 |
2003 |
| Brad Hogg (Australia) |
21 |
11 |
82.5 |
332 |
4.00 |
4.27 |
2007 |
| Geoff Allott (New Zealand) |
20 |
9 |
87.4 |
325 |
3.70 |
4/37 |
1999 |
| Shane Warne (Australia) |
20 |
10 |
94.2 |
361 |
3.82 |
4/29 |
1999 |
| Zaheer Khan (India) |
19 |
8 |
71.3 |
334 |
4.67 |
3/20 |
2011 |
