Wasim Akram, a former Pakistani cricketer, took 31 five-wicket hauls during his career in international cricket. In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded as a notable achievement, and , only 54 bowlers have taken 15 or more five-wicket hauls at international level in their cricketing careers. A left-arm fast bowler who represented his country between 1984 and 2003, the BBC described Akram as "one of the greatest left-arm bowlers in the history of world cricket", while West Indian batsman Brian Lara said that Akram was "definitely the most outstanding bowler [I] ever faced".
Akram made his Test debut in January 1985, in an innings defeat by New Zealand in Auckland. The following Test, in a man-of-the-match performance, he took ten wickets over the two innings, securing his first two five-wicket hauls but still ended on the losing side. He took another pair of five-wicket hauls in a single match five years later, against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). His career-best figures for an innings were 7 wickets for 119 runs against New Zealand in Wellington, in February 1994.
Making his One Day International (ODI) debut in 1984 against New Zealand in Faisalabad, Akram's first ODI five-wicket haul came the following year against Australia in a match which Pakistan won at the MCG. In 1989, he took five wickets in an innings, in a performance that included a hat-trick (three wickets in consecutive deliveries), against the West Indies. His career-best bowling in ODI cricket was 5 wickets for 15 runs against Zimbabwe in Karachi, in December 1993.
Retiring from international cricket in 2003 after nearly 20 years, Akram took 25 five-wicket hauls in Test cricket and 6 in ODIs. As of 2014, his position in the all-time lists for taking five wickets in an innings the most times is seventh overall in both Tests and ODIs.
Key Symbol Meaning DateDay the Test started or ODI held InnInnings in which five-wicket haul was taken OversNumber of overs bowled RunsNumber of runs conceded WktsNumber of wickets taken EconRuns conceded per over BatsmenBatsmen whose wickets were taken ResultResult for the Pakistan team One of two five-wicket hauls by Akram in a match 10 or more wickets taken in the match Akram was selected as man of the match
Tests No. Date Ground Against Inn Overs Runs Wkts Econ Batsmen Result 1 Carisbrook, Dunedin Geoff Howarth John Fulton Reid Martin Crowe Jeff Crowe Lance Cairns Lost 2 Carisbrook, Dunedin Geoff Howarth John Fulton Reid Jeff Crowe Ian Smith Brendon Bracewell Lost 3 Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad Gordon Greenidge Roger Harper Malcolm Marshall Viv Richards Courtney Walsh Patrick Patterson Won 4 Eden Gardens, Calcutta Kris Srikkanth Dilip Vengsarkar Mohammed Azharuddin Raju Kulkarni Maninder Singh Drawn 5 Jinnah Stadium, Sialkot Kris Srikkanth Navjot Sidhu Sachin Tendulkar Kapil Dev Maninder Singh Drawn 6 Melbourne Cricket Ground Geoff Marsh David Boon Allan Border Peter Sleep Merv Hughes Terry Alderman Lost 7 Melbourne Cricket Ground Dean Jones Steve Waugh Peter Sleep Ian Healy Merv Hughes Lost 8 Adelaide Oval Geoff Marsh David Boon Steve Waugh Greg Campbell Carl Rackemann Drawn 9 Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore Gus Logie Jeff Dujon Malcolm Marshall Curtly Ambrose Courtney Walsh Drawn 10 Old Trafford, Manchester Alec Stewart Michael Atherton David Gower Chris Lewis Ian Salisbury Drawn 11 Kennington Oval, London Alec Stewart Mark Ramprakash Chris Lewis Derek Pringle Neil Mallender Devon Malcolm Won 12 Trust Bank Park, Hamilton Blair Hartland Mark Greatbatch Danny Morrison Adam Parore Ken Rutherford Won 13 Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi Grant Flower Guy Whittall Glen Bruk-Jackson Eddo Brandes Stephen PeallWon 14 Eden Park, Auckland Bryan Young Blair Pocock Andrew Jones Mark Greatbatch Simon Doull Michael Owens Won 15 Basin Reserve, Wellington Bryan Young Andrew Jones Mark Greatbatch Shane Thomson Tony Blain Matthew Hart Simon Doull Won 16 Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium, Colombo Sanath Jayasuriya Pubudu Dassanayake Kumar Dharmasena Pramodya Wickramasinghe Jayananda Warnaweera Won 17 National Stadium, Karachi Michael Bevan Steve Waugh Ian Healy Jo Angel Tim May Won 18 Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo Mark Dekker Alistair Campbell David Houghton Andy Flower Bryan Strang Won 19 Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar Sanjeeva Ranatunga Chamara Dunusinghe Chaminda Vaas Pramodya Wickramasinghe Muttiah Muralitharan Won 20 Lancaster Park, Christchurch Roger Twose Chris Cairns Lee Germon Dipak Patel Dion Nash Won 21 Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad Grant Flower Mark Dekker David Houghton Guy Whittall Bryan Strang Pommie Mbangwa Won 22 Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar Gavin Rennie Alistair Campbell Neil Johnson Craig Wishart Henry Olonga Lost 23 Antigua Recreation Ground, St John's, Antigua Shivnarine Chanderpaul Ramnaresh Sarwan Ridley Jacobs Franklyn Rose Curtly Ambrose Reon King Won 24 Antigua Recreation Ground, St John's, Antigua Sherwin Campbell Adrian Griffith Wavell Hinds Ramnaresh Sarwan Reon King Won 25 Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo Russel Arnold Arjuna Ranatunga Chaminda Vaas Nuwan Zoysa Dilhara FernandoWon
One Day Internationals No.DateGroundAgainstInnOversRunsWktsEconBatsmenResult 1 Melbourne Cricket Ground Kepler Wessels Robbie Kerr Dean Jones Allan Border Kim Hughes Won 2 Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium Phil Simmons Jeff Dujon Malcolm Marshall Curtly Ambrose Courtney Walsh Won 3 Basin Reserve, Wellington Mark Greatbatch Rod Latham Andrew Jones Adam Parore Gavin Larsen Won 4 Buffalo Park, East London Andrew Hudson Jonty Rhodes Errol Stewart Brian McMillan Allan Donald Won 5 National Stadium, Karachi Andy Flower Alistair Campbell Eddo Brandes Stephen Peall Heath Streak Won 6 De Beers Diamond Oval, Kimberley Gavin Murgatroyd Louis Burger Deon Kotzé Gerrie Snyman Melt van Schoor Won
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