A lot of balls, no five-wicket hauls – 6 bowlers with the most ODI wickets without a 5-for

Today at 07:34 PM

Five wickets in an innings is the bowlers equivalent of a century. It’s a fantastic achievement and one that all bowlers want to have (as many times as possible) on their records.

It comes as no surprise that most of the all-time leading wicket takers have five wicket hauls to their credit. But not everybody does… let's have a look at the bowlers who have taken the most ODI wickets in their careers, without ever bagging a five-for.

It’s fair to say that there are some surprise names on the list

6. Ravichandran Ashwin (India) – 156 ODI wickets; best: 4/25

Here’s a surprise to start the list, Ravi Ashwin the prolific Indian spinner has played 116 ODI’s but has never broken the five-wicket threshold.

Perhaps more of a Test player where he has taken 537 wickets in 106 games, Ashwin has curiously never managed a five-wicket haul in List A either. Like most players on this list Ashwin is an allrounder, although to be fair, he is probably regarded by most as a bowler more than a bowling-allrounder for India.

5. Malcolm Marshall (West Indies) – 157 ODI wickets; best: 4/18

Another surprise on the list is the great Malcolm Marshall. With 157 wickets from 136 games, Marshall took four in an innings five times. One of the keys to taking five wickets (in a maximum of ten overs), is that you must dominate.

Bowlers who play as part of strong bowling attacks will often miss out on milestones like five wicket hauls as the wickets tend to be shared more evenly the stronger the attack is.

Marshall spent the better part of his career sharing the ball with the likes of Curtly Ambrose, Patrick Paterson, Joel Garner, Roger Harper, Courtney Walsh and Winston Benjamin – that’s an impressive array of talent to be competing with for 50% of the wickets in an ODI innings.

Read next: Country with the most ODI hat-tricks

4. Shoaib Malik (Pakistan) – 158 ODI wickets; best: 4/19

Flat and quick through the air, Malik was a cricketer who could do it all. He batted at the top of the order, and he batted in the middle. He began his career as a bowler but grew into a highly accomplished batsman.

There was a time when there were questions over his bowling action, but that didn’t stop him from bowling 7958 ODI balls and claiming 158 wickets at an average of 39.18. The closest he came to a five-for was a return of four for 19 against Hong Kong in the Asia Cup in 2004 – a game which also saw him score 118 runs on his way to being named man of the match.

3. Shane Watson (Australia) – 168 ODI wickets; best: 4/36

A genuine allrounder who could have been selected as either a batsman or a bowler, Watson was the complete package. Watson was a staple for the Australia side between 2002 and 2015, often opening both the batting and the bowling.

Three times he managed four wickets in an innings, his best coming against Pakistan in 2010 in a game that saw him claim, amongst others, the wicket of the afore mentioned Shoaib Malik. In all, Watson’s 168 wickets came from 163 innings meaning he averaged more than a wicket a game.

2. Carl Hooper (West Indies) – 193 ODI wickets; best: 4/34

An outstanding allrounder who is probably better remembered as a batsman than a bowler for the West Indies. But a bowler he was and a naggingly good one at that. An off spinner with a somewhat awkward approach to the crease, Hooper always looked like the kind of bowler a batsman would want to tuck into.

But he had guile and cunning and there was nothing easy about facing him. His best return of four for 34 came against Pakistan in Karachi in 1991, a game that saw the Windies dismiss their hosts for 146 runs.

1. Steve Waugh (Australia) – 195 ODI wickets; best: 4/33

The ultimate competitor Waugh had it all. He wasn’t quick but he was accurate, and he developed the reputation for having a golden arm. Waugh didn’t bowl as much as he would have expected to at the start of his career as he suffered regular back issues that limited what he could do with ball in hand.

But, as skipper, he used himself smartly as a change bowler, or when he needed to try something different. Waugh never managed a five-for in List A cricket either. he ended his career with an ODI bowling average of 34.67.

Also read: Most ODI wickets by a seamer in ODI cricket since 2023

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