OTD: Wasim Akram picked his 5th 5 wicket haul against Zimbabwe in 1993

The Sultan of Swing is arguably the greatest bowler ever to have graced this game. Wasim Akram has numerous 5-wicket hauls throughout his remarkable career and on this day, he picked up one of those 5-wicket hauls, against Zimbabwe in 1993. This was his 5th five-wicket haul in ODI cricket which he achieved in Karachi in the first match of the ODI series between the two teams. 

Wasim’s Magic Wand

The great left-arm fast bowler was also captaining his side in the game and he opted to bowl first after winning the toss. Wasim Akram took advantage of the new ball and picked up early wickets to put Zimbabwe under pressure. He dismissed the opposition captain Andy Flower for a duck which was followed by Alistair Campbell’s dismissal. 

His other three wickets came in the later part of the first innings when he got rid of Eddo Brandes, Stephen Peall, and Heath Streak to wrap up Zimbabwe’s batting stint. The Pakistan skipper was assisted by young Aaqib Javed who picked up a couple of wickets and cut short the first innings. Zimbabwe could only manage to add 143 runs in the first innings which was a very comfortable target for Pakistan to chase. 

Convincing Chase from Pakistan

Pakistan did not have a huge total to chase in the second innings and they finished the job with 7 wickets in hand. Interestingly, their start was also very shaky as they lost Asif Mujtaba and Inzamam-ul-Haq even before the team could put 50 runs on the board. But Pakistan overcame the early hiccups with a partnership between Saeed Anwar and Basit Ali which almost put the game to bed. Eventually, Pakistan registered a dominating victory to take the lead in the series. Pakistan’s captain Wasim Akram was adjudged the player of the match for his decisive bowling performance where he picked up 5 wickets to rattle the opposition batting order.