Most five-wicket hauls in World Cup history

The ICC Cricket World Cup has witnessed 13 action-packed editions so far where several players have stood up for their countries time and again to put up a stellar show. It is said that the batters make runs but the bowlers win you matches. The saying has been proven right time and again by some legendary bowlers in World Cup history who have helped their team lift the coveted silverware by bundling out opposition time and again.

While batters scoring hundreds is quite common in World Cups, bowlers taking fifers isn’t. However, still, there have been a few players who have scalped fifers more times than others. On that note, let’s take a look at the top three bowlers with the most fifers in World Cup history:

3. Glenn McGrath, Shahid Afridi, Mustafizur Rahman, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Ashantha Mel, Vasbert Drakes, Gary Gilmour (2 fifers)

The third spot is shared by seven players who have two five-wicket hauls to their name. Out of the seven, Gary Gilmour has taken just two matches to record two fifers while Vasbert Drakes took six matches. Glenn McGrath has the greatest number of wickets with 71 scalps to his name which is also a record in World Cups. The Pakistan duo of Shahid and Shaheen Afridi have two each alongside Ashantha Mel and Mustafizur Rahman.

2. Mitchell Starc (3 fifers)

Mitchell Starc took the cricketing fraternity by storm with his sensational performance in the 2015 World Cup where he scalped 22 wickets. He further returned in the 2019 World Cup to scalp a record 27 wickets from ten innings. Starc picked up his first fifer in the World Cup against New Zealand in 2015 and later picked up his second five-wicket haul against West Indies in the 2019 edition. The left-arm seamer went on to pick another fifer in the 2019 edition to have three five-wicket hauls to his name in World Cup history.

1. Mohammed Shami (4 fifers)

The Indian speedster is one of the greatest fast bowlers ever to play in the ODI World Cup history. Shami has played three editions of the World Cup so far and picked 54 wickets from 17 innings at an average of 12.90 and an economy of 5.05. The 33-year-old has four five-wicket hauls to his name in his World Cup career having achieved the landmark against England in the 2019 edition. He further picked three more fifers in the 2023 edition two against New Zealand and one against Sri Lanka.