Wasim Akram has overtaken his countryman Imran Khan as the leading wicket taker in World Cup matches. His 35 wickets in the tournament's history so far leaves Imran behind by one. He achieved this distinction in the match against Australia. The following table shows top wicket takers in World Cup matches updated to the end of 24 May and Akram's performance in World Cup matches match-by-match.

Leading wicket takers in the World Cup

Name           Mts Balls Mdns Runs  Wkt Avge    BB     4  5  RpO  S/R    Team

Wasim Akram     25  1284   11   868  35  24.80  4/ 32  2  0  4.06 104.29 Pak
Imran Khan      28  1017   18   655  34  19.26  4/ 37  2  0  3.81  94.32 Pak
IT Botham       22  1332   33   762  30  25.40  4/ 31  1  0  3.43 101.61 Eng
PAJ DeFreitas   22  1127   30   742  29  25.59  3/ 28  0  0  3.86 104.70 Eng
Kapil Dev       26  1422   27   892  28  31.86  5/ 43  0  1  3.76 113.51 Ind
CJ McDermott    17   894    8   599  27  22.19  5/ 44  1  1  4.02 100.11 Aus
AA Donald       16   816    7   531  27  19.67  4/ 17  1  0  3.90  95.30 SA
Mushtaq Ahmed   15   810    5   549  26  21.12  3/ 16  0  0  4.07  98.93 Pak
AME Roberts     16  1021   29   552  26  21.23  3/ 32  0  0  3.23  93.33 WI
CZ Harris       16   751    7   560  25  22.40  3/ 15  0  0  4.44 104.61 NZ
SR Waugh        26  1027    7   806  25  32.24  3/ 36  0  0  4.69 119.56 Aus

Wasim Akram's match-by-match performance in World Cup matches

Mt  BP  Overs   Mdns   Runs   Wkts    Vs  Ground              Date

  1  2    9.2    1     41     2       SL  Hyderabad (Pak)     08 Oct 1987
  2  1    9.0    0     32     0       Eng Rawalpindi (1)      13 Oct 1987
  3  2   10.0    0     45     2       WI  Lahore              16 Oct 1987
  4  2    8.0    0     44     0       Eng Karachi             20 Oct 1987
  5  2    7.0    0     34     0       SL  Faisalabad          25 Oct 1987
  6  2   10.0    0     45     3       WI  Karachi             30 Oct 1987
  7  3   10.0    0     54     0       Aus Lahore              04 Nov 1987
  8  1   10.0    0     37     0       WI  Melbourne           23 Feb 1992
  9  1   10.0    2     21     3       Zim Hobart (2)          27 Feb 1992
 10  1    3.0    0      7     1       Eng Adelaide            01 Mar 1992
 11  1   10.0    0     45     0       Ind Sydney              04 Mar 1992
 12  1   10.0    0     42     2       SA  Brisbane            08 Mar 1992
 13  1    7.2    0     28     2       Aus Perth               11 Mar 1992
 14  1   10.0    0     37     1       SL  Perth               15 Mar 1992
 15  1    9.2    0     32     4       NZ  Christchurch        18 Mar 1992
 16  1   10.0    1     40     2       NZ  Auckland            21 Mar 1992
 17  1   10.0    0     49     3       Eng Melbourne           25 Mar 1992
 18  1    7.0    1     25     2       UAE Gujranwala          24 Feb 1996
 19  1   10.0    1     30     0       Hol Lahore              26 Feb 1996
 20  1    9.2    0     49     0       SA  Karachi             29 Feb 1996
 21  1    7.0    1     31     1       Eng Karachi             03 Mar 1996
 22  0    0.0    0      0     0       NZ  Lahore              06 Mar 1996
 23  1   10.0    3     37     0       WI  Bristol             16 May 1999
 24  1    7.5    0     23     3       Sco Chester-le-Street   20 May 1999
 25  1    9.5    1     40     4       Aus Leeds               23 May 1999

(BP: Bowling Position)

Contributed by: Atul Kahate (akahate@yahoo.com)