5 best bowling figures in ODI Asia Cup history ft. Mohammed Siraj

Records tumbled at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo as India ran through Sri Lanka's batting lineup to bowl them out for an unprecedented 50 in the final of the Asia Cup 2023 on Sunday, September 17.

Mohammed Siraj led the way for the Men in Blue, scalping seven wickets to rout the hosts. He was ably supported by Hardik Pandya, who recorded three victims of his own, and Jasprit Bumrah, who set the ball rolling by providing the first breakthrough.

Over its long and storied history, the Asia Cup has seen several such performances from world-class bowlers. In the ODI format alone, the competition has seen 15 five-wicket hauls, with the likes of Kuldeep Yadav and Dunith Wellalage adding themselves to this list earlier this month.

In this article, we will take a look at the five best bowling figures in ODI Asia Cup history.

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#5 Ajantha Mendis - 5/22 vs UAE, 2008 Asia Cup

Ajantha Mendis ran through the UAE tail to pick up five [PC: AFP]

A group-stage match in the 2008 Asia Cup saw Ajantha Mendis achieve his first of two entries on this list. The wily spinner, who broke out of obscurity during that time, picked up five wickets while conceding just 22 runs against the UAE.

Sri Lanka batted first and made 290/9, and although opener Amjad Ali waged a lone battle with a 77-run knock, Mendis capitalized on UAE's weaknesses in the middle overs. He first dismissed captain Saqib Ali before running through the tail as UAE were bowled out for just 148.

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#4 Arshad Ayub - 5/21 vs Pakistan, 1988 Asia Cup

The 1988 edition of the Asia Cup featured an early meeting between India and Pakistan in Dhaka which ended in favor of the former. Off-spinner Arshad Ayub was the star of the show for the Men in Blue, picking up five wickets for only 21 runs in five overs.

After electing to field, India bowled their arch-rivals out for 142 in 42.2 overs. Ayub grabbed the first wicket to fall, opener Ramiz Raja, before ripping through the middle and lower-middle order.

India replied by chasing down the total with four wickets to spare as Mohinder Amarnath essayed a wonderful unbeaten 74.

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#3 Aaqib Javed - 5/19 vs India, 1995 Asia Cup

In 1995, both India and Pakistan were fairly strong teams. The former obviously had the advantage, though, and it showed in their convincing 97-run win in Sharjah.

Pakistan batted first after winning the toss, and fifties from Inzamam-ul-Haq and Wasim Akram propelled them to 266/9. India lost four wickets before reaching the 40-run mark and never recovered, managing only 169 despite half-centuries from Navjot Singh Sidhu and Sanjay Manjrekar.

The wrecker-in-chief was Aaqib Javed, who took five wickets for just 19 runs. He dismissed four out of India's top five, including openers Manoj Prabhakar and a certain Sachin Tendulkar.

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#2 Mohammed Siraj - 6/21 vs Sri Lanka, 2023 Asia Cup

Sri Lanka were blown away by a high-quality new-ball spell from Mohammed Siraj

The latest entrant on the list, Mohammed Siraj wrote himself into the Asia Cup history books with a sensational performance against Sri Lanka in the 2023 final.

Siraj started off his spell in scarcely believable fashion, beating the bat on several occasions in his first over. Things only got better in his second as he scalped as many as four wickets, butchering the Sri Lankan batting beyond recognition.

It was an incredible display of swing and seam bowling, and Siraj's seven-over spell with the new ball produced six wickets for just 21 runs. India haven't got over the line at the time of writing, but there's no doubt that it'll be a comfortable chase.

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#1 Ajantha Mendis - 6/13 vs India, 2008 Asia Cup

Ajantha Mendis was unplayable in Karachi [PC: AFP, Getty Images]

Several tales have been told about the way young Ajantha Mendis bamboozled India's famed batting lineup in 2008. One of his best performances came in the final of the 2008 Asia Cup, where he recorded figures of 6/13 to take the Lankans to a massive 100-run win.

After Sri Lanka put on 273 thanks to Sanath Jayasuriya's aggressive hundred, Virender Sehwag and Suresh Raina weathered the early hiccup of Gautam Gambhir's wicket. Mendis, though, had the final word as he took full control of the second innings.

The wily spinner dished out all his variations to dismiss Sehwag, Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Irfan Pathan and RP Singh. He finished with six wickets as only Sehwag and MS Dhoni put up a fight.

Mendis ended that edition of the Asia Cup with a whopping 17 wickets to his name and was adjudged the Player of the Series.