by Yet another record by Wasim Akram
Pakistan's skipper and leading fast bowler, Wasim Akram became the first
bowler to reach 300-wicket landmark in one-day Internationals on October
30, 1996 against Zimbabwe when he trapped their opener Dave Houghton at
Nawab Bugti Stadium, Quetta. He achieved the feat on the 4th ball of his
first over in the first one-day International against Zimbabwe in the
three match series.
Wasim Akram made his debut in one-day International cricket on November
23, 1984, against New Zealand in Faisalabad. His first wicket, however,
came in his next one-dayer in Melbourne on February 24, 1985, when he
bowled the Aussie opener Kepler Weasels and finished with 5 for 21 in 8.1
overs.
Of the 32 bowlers who have taken 100 wickets or more in one-day
International cricket, there are eight West Indians, seven Pakistanis,
four Australians, five New Zealanders, five Indians, two Englishmen and a
solitary South African. The most wickets taken from Sri Lanka are 85 by
fast-medium bowler Ravi Ratnayke.
Twelve of the bowlers have also scored 1,000 runs or more as batsmen,
thus accomplishing the all-rounder's double also. They are Ian Botham,
Sir Richard Hadlee, Imran Khan, Kapil Dev, Mudassar Nazar, Simon
O'Donnell, Viv Richards, Ravi Shastri, Steve Waugh, Wasim Akram, Carl
Hooper and Manoj Prabhakar.
The best strike-rate among these 32 bowlers has been achieved by
Pakistan's ace pace bowler Waqar Younis who bowled 29.86 deliveries to
get each one of his 229 wickets. Waqar also has the best strike-rate as
far as the number of wickets taken per match is concerned. He has played
137 one-day Internationals to claim his 229 wickets, giving him an
average of 1.67 per match.
The West Indians' giant pace bowler Joel 'Big Bird' Garner remains the
most economical bowler ever in one-day International cricket, conceding a
mere 3.1 runs per over in his 98-match career which fetched him 146
wickets.
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"took out of Dawn Newsletter" Farhan Tufail