The script couldn't have been better. The first World Cup, and an England-Australia semi-final in front of a raucous Yorkshire crowd. But on a pitch that was damp and green even by Headingley's standards, the fairytale required England to win the toss. They didn't, and left-arm seamer "Gus" Gilmour, in his first match of the tournament, moved the ball all over the shop, in the air and off the pitch. Even figures of 12-6-14-6 don't tell the full story: his wickets were all in the top seven - Amiss, Wood, Fletcher, Greig, Hayes and Knott - and left England for dead at 37 for 7. They limped to 93 - which might have been enough, but for Gilmour's run-a-ball 28, which rescued the Aussies from a fraught 39 for 6.

2 Aqib Javed 7-37 Pakistan v India, Sharjah, 1991-92 (202.25)

Officially at least, Aqib Javed was only 19 years old when he took to the field in this final at Sharjah. But in a white-hot clash with Pakistan's old rivals India, the boy came of age. He took 7 for 37 - at the time the best one-day bowling figures - to fell India in their pursuit of 262 for 8, including a hat-trick of lbws in his third over. And this wasn't just any old hat-trick: Aqib nailed Ravi Shastri, Mohammad Azharuddin and Sachin Tendulkar, who between them share over 750 one-day caps and over 23,000 runs. This on a day when Imran, Waqar and Wasim managed 0 for 73 between them, and 17-year-old Zahid Fazal top-scored with 98. Who says you never win anything with kids?

3 Waqar Younis 7-36 Pakistan v England, Headingley, 2001 (181.34)

A young Waqar Younis might have wasted the considerable riches on offer in this NatWest Series match at Headingley. But at the (official) age of 29, Waqar knew what he was doing, and brushed England aside with seam bowling of the highest quality. Marcus Trescothick was bowled by the first ball of the match, then Waqar took wickets in his 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th overs (and he had Michael Vaughan dropped in his 5th). Five of the last six were caught behind square on the off side, most playing defensive strokes, the ultimate testament to the quality of the bowling. Two days later Waqar took 6 for 59 against Australia, but this spell was overshadowed by a pitch invasion that led to Alec Stewart conceding the game.

4 Chaminda Vaas 8-19 Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe, Colombo (SSC) , 2001-02 (174.94)

For once, statistics do tell the story. Vaas took 8 for 19, the best figures in one-day history, as Zimbabwe were blown away for 38, the lowest one-day score of all time. The match lasted precisely 20 overs, and is the shortest completed one-dayer in history. In the process Vaas took the first one-day hat-trick by a Sri Lankan, and throughout he was right on the money: there were four lbws, one bowled, and two caught-behinds. He might have taken all ten if Muttiah Muralitharan hadn't nabbed the last two wickets. Vaas returned the favour a month later, when he took the last West Indian wicket and prevented Murali from grabbing all ten in a Test.

5 Chaminda Vaas 5-14 Sri Lanka v India, Sharjah, 2000-01 (173.93)

Chasing 300 to win the Sharjah final, India needed big runs from their big two, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly. But Chaminda Vaas picked them up in the space of three balls early on - Ganguly caught at mid-off heaving, and Tendulkar suckered by a slower ball - and followed up by removing Yuvraj Singh and Vinod Kambli in his next two overs. Vaas ended with 5 for 14, and India were on the way to their lowest one-day score (54) and Sri Lanka to the biggest victory of them all (245 runs). Only one Indian reached double figures, and Vaas had his best bowling figures - for a year anyway, until he took the small matter of 8 for 19 on this list.

6 Joel Garner 5-38 West Indies v England, Lord's, 1979 (172.78)

Big Bir's stump-shattering show. In the days when pinch-hitting was about as recognized a cricket term as "home run", Mike Brearley and Geoff Boycott took base-laying to grass-growing extremes - they added 129 in 38 overs for the first wicket, leaving England to get 158 in 22 overs to win the Wrold Cup. Hard enough at the best of times, even more so when Garner is spearing it at your toes from 6ft 8 ins, and he duly tore through England with 5 for 4 in 11 balls. Four of the five were bowled, including David Gower, Wayne Larkins and Chris Old - all for ducks - and twice Garner was on a hat-trick. All this, and he wasn't for his blistering 138.

7 Sunil Joshi 5-6 India v South Africa, Nairobi Gymkhana, 1999-2000 (170.66)

Not many people would have fancied facing South Africa in their first match since that agonizing World Cup tie against Australia at Headingley in 1999, but Indian left-arm spinner nipped any backlash in the bud with a remarkable spell of 10-6-6-5. Only Courtney Walsh has taken a cheaper five-for in a one-day international. And there were no cheap wickets in Joshi's famous five: Boeta Dippenaar, Herschelle Gibbs, Hansie Cronje, Jonty Rhodes and Shaun Pollock all fell under his spell. South Africa wee routed for 117, and India had 27 overs to spare when they sealed victory. Joshi had peaked though: these were the only wickets he took in the whole tournament.

8 Shaun Pollock 5-36 South Africa v Australia, Edgabaston, 1999 (161.99)

It's not much consolation for the most agonising day imaginable, but Shaun Pollock's efforts in the tied World Cup semi-final against Australia at Edgbaston make him the only man in the top 10 of the Wisden 100 batting or bowling lists to have finished on the losing side. He nailed mark Waugh for a fourth-ball duck with a snorter that brushed the gloves on its way through to mark Boucher, and later took two wickets in four balls - Steve Waugh and Tom Moody - and then two in three, Shane Warne and Michael Bevan. It seemed to have nipped Australia's revival in the bud. It hadn't, and South African hearts were broken by that agonising finish, when they fell one run short of the final.

9 Muttiah Muralitharan 7-30 Sri Lanka v India, Sharjah, 2000-1 (160.02)

Not content with destroying Test records left, right and centre, the Kandy man Muttiah Muralitharan recorded the best bowling figures in ODIs here, although he has since been supplanted by Chaminda Vaas. India were going well at 97 for 2, chasing 295, but Murali quickly dealt with Robin Singh and then, in his fourth over, he bagged the big one, Sachin Tendulkar caught at long-on. Another one bit the dust in his sixth, another in the seventh, and Murali later ended the nonsense with three more wickets in eight balls. On a good pitch that offered little to anyone else, Murali's trick was to turn water into wine: the other spinners in the match had combined figures of 1 for 165.

10 Madan Lal 3-31 India v West Indies, Lord's 1983 (158.50)