Best Bowling Performances of Waqar Younis
Here we will have a look at the five best performances of Waqar Younis. He was the master of reverse swing and was very good at bowling those swinging yorkers at the death. He was a kind of a bowler against whom a bastman needed a metal boot more than the helmet. He was part of one of the best bowling attacks in the world which comprised of him, Wasim and the two Mushtaqs. Here are his best five:
5. 6 for 34 and 5 for 85 vs Sri Lanka
The Players were finally out on the field after the second Test was cancelled due to a curfew in Colombo. But when the game started it was a rampage on the green top turf under the cloudy sky from the Pakistani pace duo of Akram and Waqar in Kandy. This pair did not gave any other bowler to deliver a single ball and together picked up all the ten Sri Lankan wickets for just 71 runs. Waqar with his hostile bowling took 6 wickets and the Sri Lankan batsmen looked like a club side in front of him. In the second innings as well he took a five wicket haul although he was getting hit for a few runs late in the innings by Tilakaratne and Dharmasena.
4. 5 for 25 vs South Africa
Pakistan could only manage to get 208 runs in their fifty overs and they were staring at defeat after Hudson and Wessles stitched a 100 run opening stand for the hosts in the first match of the triangular series in South Africa. But after that some fantastic bowling from Waqar and 3 run outs in the innings turned the things up on it’s head. The Proteas lost their last 8 wickets for just 33 runs and 5 of them were taken by Waqar. At the end Pakistan won the game by 10 runs and Waqar was awarded the man of the match for his 5 for 25 in 10 overs.
3. 6 for 30 vs New Zealand
Pakistan had already won the five match series by 3 games to nil in New Zealand in 1994. In the fourth ODI, the hosts were looking to salvage some pride and thanks to some brilliant bowling from Larsen, Pakistan got out for just 161. But Waqar was at his firing best, he started up brilliantly to destablize the hosts early in the innings and then once they started to consolidiate, he again came back to save his team from losing. He took the last kiwi wicket when scores were level and ended the game in a tie. He was awarded the man of the match for his six wicket haul.
2. 7 for 36 vs England
Waqar elected to bowl first at Headingley against England during the triangular series and he himself backed his decsion by leading the assault against the English batting order. He started dominating from early in the innings and kept his momentum and went on to take 7 wickets for just 36 runs in his 10 overs. But this thunderous perfromance was overshadowed by ugly crowd invasion towards the very end when Pakistan required only 4 runs to win with 6 wickets in hand which forced Alec Stewart to concede the game to Pakistan. This charge from the audience resulted in a serious injury to a ground security staff.
1. 7 for 76 and 5 for 54 vs New Zealand
After having lost the series 2-0, New Zealand were back with a bang in the last Test match of the series. They finished off Pakistan for just 102, but the Pakistani bowlers were not in any mood to kneel down, especially the all enthusiastic Waqar. He bowled 30 overs out of 76 overs in the innings taking 7 wickets. This wonderful performance did not allow the Kiwis to take a big lead and pushed Pakistan to bounce back in the match. In the last innings as well he took five wickets to win the match for his team by 65 runs.
