Of the innumerable records set and overhauled at the India-Sri Lanka World Cup clash, quite a few involved five-wicket hauls. With his 5-18, Mohammed Shami, for example, equalled two world records – of most five-fors in a single edition (two) and most in World Cup history (three).
Earlier, in the Indian innings, Dilshan Madushanka claimed 5-80 to attain the dubious feat of conceding most runs while taking five wickets in a World Cup match. Between them, Madushanka and Shami pushed the number of five-fors to five in 2023, and to 69 in all World Cups.
1975: Gilmour’s strikes
Against Pakistan at Headingley on June 7, 1975, in the days of 12-over spells, Dennis Lillee became the first to take five wickets in an innings at the World Cup: he claimed 5-34.
The star bowler of the edition was, however, Gary Gilmour. Australia picked their left-arm seamer directly for the semi-final. Gilmour, playing only his third ODI, wrecked England with 6-14, top-scored with the bat, then even took 5-48 in the final… but it was not enough to beat the West Indies.
Nevertheless, Gilmour will be remembered for his freakish World Cup aggregate figures of 24-8-62-11. His 6-14 remained the best ODI figures for another eight years, but he played only one more ODI.
1979: Garner destroys England
Australia sent a second-strength side, but even then, Alan Hurst claimed 5-21 against Canada. It was not until the final that a non-Australian finally took five wickets at the World Cup.
After the West Indies made 286-9, the England openers, Mike Brearley and Geoff Boycott, went into an inexplicable crawl. With the asking rate mounting, they finally went for the onslaught: they simply caved in against Garner, whose 5-38 included a burst of 5-4 in 11 balls.
1983: A world record and some impressive Asians
The 1983 edition had more matches (27) than 1979 (15), and the five-for count went up to eight. Of these, some deserve mention.
Ashantha de Mel of Sri Lanka got 5-39 against Pakistan and 5-32 against New Zealand to become the second bowler, after Gilmour, to claim two five-wicket hauls in the same edition.
Kapil Dev’s 5-43 against Australia was the first five-for by an Indian in all ODIs. Later in the tournament, Kapil famously hit 175 not out against Zimbabwe – the first hundred for India in all ODIs.
When Kapil claimed his five-for, Ken MacLeay of Australia also got 6-39, making it the first instance of two bowlers taking five wickets in the same World Cup match. Three days later, Abdul Qadir claimed 5-44 when de Mel got 5-39.
And Winston Davis destroyed Australia with 7-51, a new ODI record for best bowling figures. Davis broke the record of Gilmour, whose 6-14 had come at the same ground – Headingley. Davis would retain his record until 1991-92.
1987 and 1992: A sudden drought
The first three editions had witnessed 13 five-wicket hauls. But as matches became 50-over contests from 1987, five-fors almost became rare. Craig McDermott’s 5-44 in the semi-final against Pakistan was the only one in the 1987 edition.
Things went further downhill in 1992. The number of matches went up from 27 to 39, but while eight bowlers took four wickets in an innings, none of them took five. This remains the only ‘barren’ World Cup.
1996: ‘Shopkeeper’ leaves a mark
There was another spike, with three five-fors. Damien Fleming and Paul Strang got two of them, but it was the third – the first from an Associate Nation – that attained some cult following.
Bombay-born off-spinner Shaukat Dukanwala had played Ranji Trophy for Baroda before moving to the UAE. His surname prompted some commentators to refer to him as the ‘Shopkeeper’ on air. Dukanwala claimed 5-29 against the Netherlands in the first ever World Cup match between two Associate Nations.
1999: Five-fors return to the fray
The count went up to six this time, with several iconic entries. Venkatesh Prasad’s 5-27 remains the only five-wicket haul for India against Pakistan at the World Cup. Glenn McGrath’s 5-14 knocked the West Indies out of the tournament. And Shaun Pollock’s outstanding 5-36 was not good enough for South Africa to defeat Australia in the iconic Edgbaston semi-final.
2003: A record spike
The 2003 World Cup witnessed 12 five-wicket hauls, still a record for a single edition. These included some remarkable feats.
Vasbert Drakes (5-44 against Canada, 5-33 against Kenya) emulated Gilmour and de Mel with two entries in the same edition. Shane Bond claimed 6-23 and Brett Lee 5-42 in the same match. And against Namibia, McGrath got 7-15 to become the first to take five wickets in two separate editions. McGrath’s figures still remain a World Cup record.
But the most devastating spell came from Chaminda Vaas: against Bangladesh, he did the hat-trick with the first three balls, got another wicket with his fourth, and completed his five-for with his 16th – the quickest five-wicket haul in all ODIs until 2023.
2007: The South African edition
One bizarre statistic of the 2007 World Cup was that every bowler to take a five-for was a South African: Charl Langeveldt (5-39 against Sri Lanka), Andre Nel (5-45 against Bangladesh), and Andrew Hall (5-18 against England).
2011: For and against India
Shahid Afridi first claimed 5-16 against Kenya, then 5-23 against Sri Lanka en route to become the joint-highest wicket-taker of the edition. India’s only entry was Yuvraj Singh, who backed his 5-31 against Ireland with 50 not out: no one else had a five-for and a half-century in the same World Cup match until then.
An interesting statistic was what happened against India. Of the nine five-fors in 2011, four – Tim Bresnan’s 5-48, Dale Steyn’s 5-50, Ravi Rampaul’s 5-51, Wahab Riaz’s 5-46 in the semi-final – came against the eventual champions.
2015: Two doubles, two Mitchells
If Vaas had taken three wickets with his first three balls en route to his five-for, Steven Finn did the same with his last: he struck with the fourth, fifth, and sixth balls of the 50th over to finish with 5-71. In the same match, World Cup debutant Mitchell Marsh ran through England with 5-33.
Trent Boult’s 5-27 should have sealed the clash two weeks later, for Australia had been bowled out for 151. But this was also the match when Mitchell Starc, who would emerge as a World Cup legend over time, left his mark: his 6-28 reduced New Zealand to 146-9 before they got home.
2019: A second spike
The count went up from seven to 10, till date the second-most in an edition. It began with Starc, who got 5-46 against the West Indies and 5-26 against New Zealand to become the first cricketer to take three World Cup five-wicket hauls.
Like Starc, Mustafizur Rahman also had two entries in 2019 – 5-59 against India and 5-75 against Pakistan. In the second match, Shaheen Shah Afridi also got 6-35.
And against Afghanistan, Shakib Al Hasan produced 51 with 5-29 to emulate Yuvraj’s fifty-and-five-for feat.
2023: Shami equals Starc
Despite claiming 14 wickets at 13.78 apiece (including 5-69 against England), Shami had played only four times in the 2019 edition. This time, he missed the first four matches, and played only after Hardik Pandya picked up an injury.
It took Shami three entries to add two more entries to the list of five-fors – 5-54 against New Zealand, 5-18 against Sri Lanka – to equal Starc’s World Cup record of three. Shami also became the first bowler to claim four or more wickets seven times in the tournament.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
