5 best ODI bowling performances by spinners in Australia
Spinners are always an integral part of any cricket team, but when the venue is Australia, they are unlikely to have great success. Australia is traditionally a great place for the pace bowlers. They have produced many great pacers, but don't have as many spinners.
Despite this tradition, here are some great spinners who did well on Australian soil. Yuzvendra Chahal, the Indian spinner, set the latest example of a spinner doing well in Australia as he bagged six wickets in the third ODI on Friday against the hosts. This is the first and only instance till the date of a spinner taking six wickets in an ODI in Australia.
In the history of ODI cricket in Australia, there are only five spinners who took five or more wickets in an innings. Three of them are Asian, and among the other two, one is from South Africa and the other from Australia. Let us have a look to five best bowling of spinners in the soil of Australia in ODIs.
#5 Abdul Qadir (5 for 53 against Australia, Melbourne)
The Pakistani legendary spinner Abdul Qadir was the first man to prove that taking five wickets in the ODIs in Australia is not an impossible task. In 1984, Qadir scalped five Australian batsmen at Melbourne and created history.
In the first innings of that match, Australia posted 209 runs for 8 wickets in 50 overs. Qadir took five wickets conceding 53 runs with a maiden over. Kim Hughes, who was the captain of Australia at that point in time, was the Qadir's first prey.
After taking the first wicket, Qadir scalped Kepler Wessels, Steve Smith, Rod Marsh, David Hookes and Rodney Hogg.
Despite this historic performance, Qadir ended the match with the losing side. While replying to Australia’s 209, Pakistan managed only 166 and eventually lost the match by 43 runs. Javed Miandad, the Pakistani batting legend, was the only man to offer some resistance, scoring 56.