5 of the most deadly overs bowled in cricket history

Cricket has produced many transcendent bowlers who were both feared and respected. Their ability to turn the match around on its head and implant anxiety in even the most dangerous of batsmen deserves recognition.

Whether it's express speed or swing or deadly spin, there are bowlers who can turn the match around on its head in just the one over. This slide-show talks about the five most deadly overs in the cricket history.

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#5 Shoaib Akhtar vs South Africa, March 2000

Pakistan played South Africa in a triangular series at Sharjah on 28th March 2000. They were bowled out cheaply for 168 and chasing 169, Herschelle Gibbs got South Africa off to a solid start. They were cruising at 74 for one when Shoaib Akhtar came on to bowl.

He bowled 3 overs without a wicket and his demolition job began in the 4th over. He removed Mark Boucher with a searing first ball bouncer as he nicked to Moin Khan behind the stumps. Then he dismissed Dale Benkenstein with a peach of a delivery. In the last ball of his 4th over, he castled Lance Klusener's stumps with a pacy length delivery to reduce South Africa to 74 for four.

The Proteas never recovered from that and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. They were all out for 101 and lost the game by 67 runs.

#4 Mitchell Johnson, The Ashes 2013/14

The man behind Australia's successful Ashes

During the second test of the 2013/14 Ashes series, Mitchell Johnson produced a memorable spell of 7/40 which included 3 wickets in one over.

Australia declared their first innings at 570 and England went in to bat in the third session of day 2. Mitchell Johnson dismissed Cook early but England consolidated to 117 for 4 when Johnson came back for his second spell.

During the 50th over of the innings, Johnson trapped Stokes right in front of the stumps with a quick delivery and England were reduced to 117/5. He then dismissed Matt Prior with the 5th ball of his over and then castled Stuart broad's stump with his sixth.

His pace was simply too much for England to handle. Johnson picked up the remaining three wickets to finish England's innings for a paltry 172.

#3 Charl Langaveldt Vs West Indies, Barbados 2005

A sensational hat-trick

Charl Langeveldt bowled one of the most sensational final overs in the history of one-day internationals. In a bilateral series match at Barbados, chasing 285, West Indies needed 4 runs from the final over with 3 wickets in hand.

Langeveld began the final over with Ian Bradshaw and Dwayne Bravo at the crease. They took singles off the first two balls and reduced the equation to two from four deliveries. Then came one of the best hat-tricks in ODI history.

On the third ball of his over, Langeveldt dismissed Bradshaw with an inswinging length ball. Then he dismissed Daren Powell with a similar delivery, leaving West Indies to get 2 runs from 2 balls.

He then dismissed Corey Collymore's with an inswinging full delivery to claim his hat-trick. It was one of the most dramatic finishes in ODI cricket till date.

#2 Irfan Pathan vs Pakistan, Karachi 2006

Irfan Pathan was the second Indian bowler to take a test match hat-trick after Harbhajan Singh. Pakistan top-order had no answer to the swing generated by the left arm seamer from Baroda.

In the 3rd match of the test series against Pakistan at Karachi, Pakistan were put into bat by Rahul Dravid. Irfan Pathan opened the bowling for India. The first ball was tentatively defended by Salman Butt and the next two balls were left alone as the ball swung away.

On the 4th ball of his over, he got Salman Butt caught in slips with an away swinging full ball. He then trapped Younis Khan LBW with a full delivery that pitched on the off and swung in late. He completed his hat-trick with another inswinging delivery to uproot Mohammad Yousuf's stumps, leaving Pakistan 0/3 after the first over.

What made this hat-trick even more special was the fact that he dismissed two of the great Pakistan batsmen of our generation.

#1 Michael Holding's 'Over of the century’ to Geoff Boycott, 1981

Over of the Century

This happened 35 years ago but is still considered by many as the most lethal six deliveries ever bowled.

In the 3rd test of the England’s tour of the West Indies in 1981, West Indies were dismissed for 265 in the first innings. Boycott opened with Graham Gooch for England and Holding came on to bowl the second over of the innings with the former facing it.

The first ball was a loosener which rapped Boycott on the gloves and dropped just short of the slips. He had no clue about the next one and was comfortably beaten. The third delivery lethally cut in at pace and hit Boycott on the thigh. He managed to keep out the next 2 balls but was terrorized by the pace and bounce of Holding.

Then came the knockout punch. The sixth ball of his over ripped Geoff Boycott's off stump out of the ground and sent it cartwheeling to complete a memorable over in the history of cricket.