So far, there have been nine instances of a West Indian bowler taking at least six wickets in an innings in men’s ODI cricket. In this post, we take a look at the six best returns by bowlers from the Caribbean in this format.
7/51 by Winston Davis v Australia, Headingley, 1983
The honour of taking the first ever seven-wicket haul in ODI cricket belongs to Davis, who achieved the feat in a group game of the 1983 World Cup. After the West Indies had posted 252/9 in the allotted 60 overs, the Vincentian pacer, playing only his second ODI, rattled Australia on his way to the record books. His scalps included captain Kim Hughes and Allan Border, paving the way for his team’s 101-run win.
6/15 by Colin Croft v England, Kingstown, 1980-81
Croft became the first West Indian to record an ODI six-wicket haul, starring in what was a remarkable win. Having been beaten in the Test series, England were on track for redemption in the first of two ODIs when they bowled the hosts out for 127. However, Croft demolished the English batting with his pace and bounce, helping reduce the score to 15/4. The West Indies ended up winning by two runs.
6/22 by Fidel Edwards v Zimbabwe, Harare, 2003-04
Not only did Edwards become the first bowler to take six wickets on ODI debut, but also the second bowler to take a five-wicket haul on both Test and ODI debut. Trailing the five-match series 2-1, the West Indies totalled 256/3 from 45 overs in this rain-hit game, after which the fast bowler struck off his very first ball. Chasing a revised 223 in 32 overs, Zimbabwe crashed to 22/5 before being limited to 150/7.
Fidel Edwards (6/22) was the first bowler to take six wickets on ODI debut, against Zimbabwe in 2003-04. South African Kagiso Rabada bettered this with 6/16 against Bangladesh in 2015 (source – roundpulse.com)
6/27 by Kemar Roach v Netherlands, Delhi, 2010-11
The Feroz Shah Kotla saw the first hat-trick of the 2011 World Cup during this group match. Roach dismissed Pieter Seelaar, Bernard Loots and Berend Westdijk off the first three balls of his ninth over to finish with 6/27 and end the Dutch innings at 115, scripting a 215-run win for the West Indies. The Barbadian speedster joined Jerome Taylor in the list of West Indians to have notched an ODI hat-trick.
6/27 by Sunil Narine v South Africa, Providence, 2016
Until this fixture, the first in a triangular series also involving Australia, the best ODI return by a West Indian spinner was 6/41 by Vivian Richards against India at Delhi in 1989-90. Narine’s tricky off-spin first accounted for the prized wicket of Hashim Amla, and later sent South Africa hurtling from 160/3 to 188 all out on a slow pitch. His efforts paid off, as the West Indies secured a four-wicket victory.
6/29 by Patrick Patterson v India, Nagpur, 1987-88
The West Indies were restricted to 203/8 in this first of a seven-match series, but Patterson dented India’s hopes in his opening spell to leave the score at 18/3. The hosts recovered from 31/5 through a sixth-wicket stand of 113 between Kapil Dev and Ravi Shastri, before the paceman removed both batsmen in quick succession. In the 45th over, he aptly took the last wicket to seal a ten-run win for his side.
The Cricket Cauldron 