Top 5 bowlers who were quickest to reach 150 wickets in ODIs
As we know, Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan is the highest wicket-taker amongst all bowlers in both ODIs and in Test Cricket, with 534 wickets and 800 wickets respectively. In ODIs, only two bowlers have bagged 500 or more wickets thus far - Wasim Akram and Muralitharan. But to reach such a milestone they took a span of 350 or more matches. But to reach the 150 wickets milestone, the legendary off-spinner had taken 110 matches.
Recently, in the ongoing ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, two frontline bowlers of their respective teams reached the 150-wickets mark in One Day Internationals. While Trent Boult bagged a late couple of wickets in the death overs against Bangladesh, Mitchell Starc stunned the in-form with a five-wicket haul. Both bowlers were the highest wicket-takers in the previous World Cup edition. From the magnificent Mitchell Starc to Sri Lanka's estranged mystery bowler Ajantha Mendis, here let's have a look at the bowlers who have taken the least number of ODI matches to reach the 150 wickets mark:
#1 Mitchell Starc
The Calypsos stormed into the World Cup scene with an unstoppable charisma and drive. They stunned the Black Caps in the warm-up fixture by posting a total of 421, in response to which the Kiwis could only manage 330 while chasing. Jason Holder and Co. carried their form into the main competition in their tournament-opener against Pakistan and bulldozed over them with a 7 wicket triumph. Then came the Australian challenge and the world is witness to the fact that the West Indies Cricket team looked solid against the Aussies too. The Kangaroos lost first five wickets for just 79 runs but managed to post a decent total of 288 after Nathan Coulter-Nile produced a gem of an innings (92 off 60) partnered by Steve Smith (73 off 103) who kept the ship sailing.
Given West Indies' monstrous form, a target of 289 didn't look look as big. To defend this, they needed something special. And that something special came from Australia's best, the left-arm quick Mitchell Starc. He stole himself a five-wicket haul by uprooting Gayle and the lower order, as the Calypsos fell just 15 runs short from a victory that seemed close for a while. He has six five-fers in One Day International Cricket now.
Additionally, he also reached another landmark in his cricketing career. The Player of the Tournament in the World Cup 2015 became the fastest to reach 150 wickets in ODIs, overhauling Saqlain Mushtaq's previous record by a difference of just one match. Since his debut in October 2010, Starc has featured in 77 ODI games and now has 151 wickets in the 50-over format.
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