Top 3 most wickets by a spinner in a single ODI World Cup ft. Adam Zampa

A spinner plays a key role for any team in limited-overs cricket and the task is accentuated in an event such as ICC ODI World Cup. Spinners are the unsung heroes of the bowling department, especially when the fast bowlers are accustomed to hogging the limelight.

Australian leg spinner Adam Zampa etched his name in the World Cup history by finishing with 23 wickets in the prestigious tournament. He trapped Indian tailender Jasprit Bumrah for a leg-before-wicket in the 45th over of the Indian innings in the final between India and Australia.

With that dismissal, Zampa equaled the record of most wickets by a spin bowler in a single ODI World Cup event. Let's look at the spinners with the most wickets in a World Cup below.

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#3 Shane Warne - 20

Shane Warne was the joint-most wicket-taker in the 1999 World Cup staged in England between May 14 and June 20. Warne was instrumental in helping Australia claim their second world title and become only the second team in history after the West Indies to do so.

The spin wizard picked up 20 wickets in 10 matches at an average of 18.05 and an economy rate of 3.82. Only New Zealand left-arm pacer Geoffrey Allott managed to scalp the same number of wickets in that event.

Warne's best figures of 4/29 came during one of the most epic ties in a World Cup match in Birmingham against South Africa in the second semi-final.

It was the attacking mindset of Warne that left batters bewildered and the same thing happened in the final against Pakistan. The leg-spinner got the wickets of Ijaz Ahmed, Moin Khan, Shahid Afridi, and Wasim Akram to bundle them for a mediocre 213. Australia went on to win the summit clash by eight wickets and 179 balls to spare.

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#2 Brad Hogg and Shahid Afridi - 21

Brad Hogg had a stellar World Cup campaign despite not being the highest wicket-taker for Australia during their 2007 World Cup triumph. Hogg's 21 wickets in the tournament at an average of 15.80 was the third-best for Australia in that edition after Shaun Tait (23) and Glenn McGrath (26).

Hogg didn't even pick the most wickets by a spinner in that quadrennial event in the West Indies. The left-arm wrist spinner took a couple of four-wicket hauls, including 4/27 vs Netherlands and 4/29 vs New Zealand.

Nevertheless, former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi finished the joint-highest wicket-taker in the 2011 World Cup with India's Zaheer Khan. The right-arm leg-spinner snared 21 scalps in eight matches at 12.85, with his best bowling figures (5/16) coming against Kenya in a Group A match in Hambantota.

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#1 Muttiah Muralitharan and Adam Zampa - 23

Sri Lanka legendary bowler Muttiah Muralithatharan was the man to pick more wickets than Brad Hogg in the 2007 World Cup, which was most by a spinner.

Muralitharan accounted for 23 wickets in 10 innings as Sri Lanka reached the final in Barbados. He returned with 4/19 in Sri Lanka's final Super 8 stage game against Ireland before running through New Zealand's middle order in the semi-final with another impressive figure of 4/31 from just eight overs.

Adam Zampa equalled Muralitharan's tally on November 19, 2023, to become the joint-highest wicket-taker by a spinner in the World Cup. Zampa finished the tournament with 23 wickets at an average of 22.39, including three four-wicket hauls.