It is the same case in ODI Cricket as was the case in Test Cricket. Muttiah Muralitharan is the highest wicket taker in ODI Cricket with 534 Wickets. He is 32 wickets ahead of Wasim Akram who is in the second position with 502 wickets. Muttiah Muralitharan has played 350 ODIs for Sri Lanka and he has taken 10 Five Wicket Hauls in ODI Cricket. He has also taken 25 Four Wicket Hauls in ODI Cricket. His economy rate throughout his ODI Career was just 3.93 runs per over which is incredible. He has an average of 23.08 in ODI Cricket while bowling.

Let’s look at the Top 5 Best Bowling Performances of Muttiah Muralitharan in ODI Cricket

1) 7/30 vs India (2000)

This is his best bowling performance in ODI Cricket. He is one of those rare bowlers who has taken 7 wickets in an ODI Match. This was a match against India in which Sri Lanka had made 294 runs. India were not able to get anywhere in the chase. Muttiah Muralitharan bowled 10 overs for just 30 runs at 3 runs per over. He took 7 Wickets and broke the back of the Indian batting. He took the wickets of Sachin Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli, Yuvraj Singh. This was the match in the 2000 Champions Trophy and Sri Lanka won by 68 runs.

2) 5/23 vs Pakistan (1998)

This was the first Five Wicket Haul that he took in ODI Cricket and it was against Pakistan in 1998. Sri Lanka batted first and they made 288 runs and at that time 288 was a lot of runs. Pakistan were not allowed to get momentum. Muttiah Muralitharan bowled 9.2 overs and he took 5 wickets while giving away only 23 runs which is less than 3 runs per over. He got the wickets of Saeed Anwar, Azhar Mahmood, Wasim Akram. Sri Lanka won this match by 115 runs.

3) 5/34 vs England (1998)

This was one of his best overseas performances and this was at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground. The year 1998 was an incredible year for Murali. England were batting first and they got to 259 in their 50 overs. Muttiah Muralitharan bowled 10 overs and he got 5 wickets for just 34 runs at 3.4 runs per over. He got the wickets of Nick Knight, Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain. Sri Lanka won the match by 5 wickets.

4) 5/30 vs New Zealand (2001)

This was the performance that he gave in 2001 against New Zealand in their home country. This match was a low scoring match. Sri Lanka were batting first and they made only 213 in the first innings. It was felt that New Zealand would win the match but Murali had different ideas. He bowled 7.5 overs and in those overs he took 5 wickets for 30 Runs. He gave away less than 4 Runs per over. Muttiah Muralitharan was showing the world that he can take a Five Wicket Haul anywhere in the world because he is the best in the world.

5) 5/31 vs Bangladesh (2008)

Muttiah Muralitharan was in the later stages of his career but that did not mean that he had lost his skills. He was still as good as ever and he showed in this match against Bangladesh. In this match Sri Lanka were batting first. Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumar Sangakkara hit centuries and it helped Sri Lanka post a big total of 332 in the first innings. Bangladesh had to come attacking and Murali derailed all their plans. He took 5 wickets for 31 runs in 10 overs. He gave away 3.1 runs per over and Sri Lanka won this match by a whopping 158 runs.