Top 5 best bowling figures by left-arm spinners in ODIs

Left-arm spinners are typically conventional and not too appealing in style yet they own a vital impact in the world of cricket. They are often seen bamboozling batsmen with their repertory and guile with the 5-ounce leather.

But left-arm spinners are all not just orthodox with the conventional spinning of the ball between fingers. There are miniature, yet potential left-arm Chinaman bowlers, and the unorthodox left-arm wrist spinners. However, these varieties could wobble the batsman as the reading of their hand is really a tough job to do.

We have seen Kuldeep Yadav derail England in the first ODI at Trent Bridge as he went on to claim his career-best figures in ODI cricket. In the second ODI, he scalped three more wickets - though he was not able to give a victory to his side, he was vital. Now, let's take a look at the top-5 best performance of the left-arm tweakers in ODI format. I have fixed wickets and economy, to list them which means who holds the most wickets tops the list. Surprisingly there are three Indians in the top-5

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Daniel Vettori 5 for 7 runs

New Zealand v Bangladesh - 3rd ODI

Vettori is one of the finest craftsmen in the art of left-arm spin. He has all the varieties in his arsenal to threaten the batsmen. Vettori also had a lot of guile, his drift was another asset in his armoury which made it difficult for batsmen to pick.

He had his best figure in ODIs when he demolished a Bangladesh side for 95 all out in a 50-over game back in 2007 at Queenstown. Vettori wrecked Bangladesh hopes with a five-wicket haul. Bangladesh had no answer to Vettori - in the process, he became the first Kiwi left-arm spinner to take a five-wicket haul in ODIs.

He bowled just 6 overs at an economy of 1.16 all the while costing just 7 runs which proved to be a match-winning spell with two maidens. New Zealand humiliated the Bengal tigers in the second innings as they chased the target down in just under 6 overs - courtesy of McCullum's 80 off 31 mere balls, However, the performance of Vettori was adjudged as MOM and it holds the fifth spot of the listicle.

Stat: 6 - 2 - 7 - 5 - 1.16 against Bangladesh in 2007

(Order being Overs - Maidens - Runs - Wickets - Economy)

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Sunil Joshi 5 for 6 runs

Sunil Joshi is one the of those familiar kinds who could bowl left-arm spin and bat a bit. His tenure with Indian Cricket was short, yet he let his performance talk for him.

Joshi is a bowling all-rounder who played in 15 Tests and 69 ODIs and he has taken 114 wickets in both formats combined. He even represented Royal challenger Bangalore in 4 IPL matches. He was a regular member of the Indian team between 1995 and 2001.

Joshi has had some fruitful moments, such as an extraordinary spell of 10-6-6-5 in a one-dayer against South Africa in 1999 as South Africa were bundled out for just 117.

And it was the best figure by an Indian left-arm spinner until Murali Karthik went onto surpass him by taking 6 wickets in 2007. Joshi's 5 wicket haul holds the 4th place in this article.

Stat: 10 - 6 - 6 - 5 - 0.60 against South Africa in 1999

(Order being Overs - Maidens - Runs - Wickets - Economy)

Sanath Jayasuriya 6 for 29

One could wonder how he made into this list. Yes, he was a left-arm spinner in his early days and this performance came in 1993. Those were the days when he was put into bat down the order.

Later he transformed himself into an attacking top-order batsman. He is the one who showed how one should play the first 15 over of the one-day Internationals. He is the one who changed the face of the ODIs by his diabolic attacking skills top of the order

He also had an impeccable skill in spin bowling. He has scored over 20000 runs and picked up 440 wickets in his international career. His best bowling figures came against the English side in 1993 as he scalped 6 pomes with his left-arm Orthodox. Eventually, Sri Lanka won that match by 8 wickets.

It was the first Man-of-the-Match performance from young Jayasuriya. Now, it is the 3rd best performance by a left arm tweaker in ODIs.

Stat: 9.5 - 6 - 29 - 6 - 2.94 against England in 1993

(Order beingOvers - Maidens - Runs - Wickets - Economy)

Murali Karthik - 6 for 27

Tamilnadu born left-arm Orthodox spinner has had various ingredients in his armoury to threaten batsmen. Murali Karthik has represented India in 8 test matches, 37 ODIs and one T20I match.

He was one the finest left-arm spinners in his days, yet he has had very low chances to make it count as there were two great spinners who had occupied Indian spin space for a decade. He is master of loop and control, his arm-ball was the trickiest and he could make batsmen dance any day.

He break Sunil Joshi's 8 yr old record when he thwarted mighty Australian team in Mumbai. Kartik was the hero of the match, picking up a career-best 6 for 27 as India snapped out the last eight wickets for 76 runs and kept Australians to 193 in 41.3 overs. The match eventually ended with a tense two-wicket win for the Indians on the dead rubber. However, India had already lost that 7 match ODI series by 4-1 margin.

Stat: 10 - 3 - 27 - 6 against Australia in 2007

(Order being Overs - Maidens - Runs - Wickets - Economy)

Kuldeep Yadav 6 for 25

England v India - 1st ODI: Royal London One-Day Series

Kuldeep made headlines when he scalped first hat-trick by an Indian in the under-19 World Cup by wobbling three Scottish batsmen into his web. Right from his debut, he has been threatening the batsmen in all formats of the game with his delightful deliveries. He tops this list by demolishing England's Long batting line-up in the first of three ODIs against England in 2018.

Virat won the toss and opted to field first in the first ODI that took place in Trent bridge as he was confident of his team chasing any total down. England openers Roy and Bairstow were furious and gave a good start. When seamers Umesh and Kaul had no answers to English openers Virat threw his trump card Kuldeep into play in the 10th over.

Kuldeep pegged England back by taking 3 wickets in his first Ten deliveries. As a result, England were bundled out for mere 268 at the batting paradise that is Trent Bridge. Kuldeep ended his match-winning spell by taking 6 English wickets and was rightly adjudged the MOM. Also, India won that first ODI comprehensively by 8 wickets, courtesy Rohit Sharma's Century.

Stat: 10 - 0 - 25 - 6 - 2.50

(Order being Overs - Maidens - Runs - Wickets - Economy)