BBC SPORT | NATWEST SERIES | Waqar's super seven

BBC Sport Online pays tribute to the enduring qualities of seven-wicket star Waqar Younis.

Waqar Younis is making a habit this summer of ruining England's hopes.

The veteran paceman decimated England's batting line-up at Headingley only 13 days after his lion-hearted performance helped propel his side to victory on the final day of the second Test at Old Trafford.

His stunning figures of seven for 36 from his 10 overs was the second-best return in international one-day cricket.

Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralithran holds the record after snaring seven for 30 against India in Sharjah last October.

Only two other bowlers - Aaqib Javed and Winston Davis - have taken seven wickets in a one-day match.

Waqar Younis
Waqar's first one-day outing was not spectacular
But while Muralitharan boasts the best figures he cannot match the number of five wicket hauls Waqar has claimed in the limited-overs game.

He has now snared five victims or more on 11 occasions over the course of a career that started with his first outing against West Indies in Sharjah in 1989.

It was a less than startling entrance into the one-day arena as he returned wicketless from four overs but it wasn't long before his figures improved.

He hit a purple patch in 1990 with him clinching five scalps in an innings six times in eight months.

That included his previous best figures - six for 26 against Sri Lanka in the Australasian Cup in April of that year.

Waqar's one-day hauls

7-36 v England, Headingley 2001

6-26 v Sri Lanka, Sharjah 1990

6-30 v New Zealand, Auckland 1994

6-44 v New Zealand, Sharjah 1996

5-11 v New Zealand, Peshawar 1990

5-16 v V New Zealand, Sialkot 1990

5-20 v New Zealand, Sharjah 1990

5-25 v South Africa, Durban 1993

5-31 v India, Sharjah 2000

5-52 v West Indies, Karachi 1990

5-52 v Sri Lanka, Nairobi 1996

His bowling in the tournament's semi-final against New Zealand was the start of a profitable run against the Kiwis.

He must relish facing the Black Caps as five of his best seven performances have come against them.

He got the ball rolling at Headingley with the first ball of the day which Marcus Trecothick played all around but could not clamp down on.

Nick Knight was helpless as Waqar got a delivery to bounce alarmingly and take the shoulder of his bat.

Michael Vaughan could only guide a full delivery to the slips, Owais Shah followed suit and Paul Collingwood matched Trescothick's first-ball departure.

Alec Stewart hung around for a while but got a leading edge to give Abdur Razzaq a simple catch before Dominic Cork gave Waqar his seventh scalp and left England reeling at 58 for seven.

Waqar Younis
Waqar has been a prolific one-day performer
Remarkably, only a handful of matches ago, his place in the Pakistan side was in jeopardy.

The emergence of Shoaib Akhtar and a new crop of pace bowlers had left him facing a period on the international sidelines.

His career was revived on the tour to New Zealand when he coaxed the best out of the side's young pace bowlers.

He was given the captaincy of a young Pakistan side, still without a coach after the removal of Javed Miandad, for the trip to Sharjah and they performed creditably before losing the final to Sri Lanka.

His captaincy on this tour has been based around a team spirit and a fighting attitude which has reaped rewards.

His resurgence and that of Pakistan, shows no sign of abating.


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