Stats: With 829.6 rating points, Lance Gibbs ended with 6/60 and is rightfully the best bowling performance in draws

Peter Lever’s first-day spell of 6 for 38 in Melbourne in 1974–75, where he dismissed four of the top five batters for a total of two runs while Saeed Ajmal’s 7 for 55 in Dubai against England in 2011–12 are the two best first-inning performances.

Mohammad Asif’s 5 for 27 demolition work in Kandy and Botham’s 7 for 48 in the Jubilee Test in Bombay in 1979–80 have claimed the top two slots in the third-inning performances.

The top five performances in each innings are shown here.

TOP PERFORMANCES BY INNINGS

INNINGS 1

BOWLER              RTG PTS   FIGURES VENUE   YEAR RES

SCJ Broad (ENG) 882.9            8/15      Trent Bridge 2015   W

TE Bailey (ENG)   877.4           7/34          Kingston   1954   W

RJ Hadlee (NZ)     870.0           9/52          Brisbane    1985   W

P Lever (ENG)       842.2           6/38        Melbourne 1975    W

Saeed Ajmal (Pak) 829.6          7/55             Dubai      2012   W

INNINGS 2

AW Greig (ENG)   860.8          8/86      Port of Spain   1974  W

GD McGrath (Aus) 844.4         5/53             Lord’s        2005 W

W Voce (ENG)       834.1         4/10           Sydney        1936 W

MJ Hoggard (Eng) 826.2          7/63       Christchurch   2002 W

Fred Trueman (Eng) 824.4        5/35       Port of Spain  1960 W

INNINGS 3

DE Malcolm (ENG) 881.2        9/57           Oval            1994 W

SCJ Broad (ENG)    845.5         6/17    Jo’Burg-New     2016 W

Mohammad Asif (Pak) 836.5    5/27         Kandy           2006 W

AB Agarkar (IND)   831.8         6/41     Adelaide           2003 W

IT Botham (ENG)    829.4         7/48    Wankhede         1980 W

INNINGS 4

PS de Villiers (SA)   914.9        6/43        Sydney          1994 W

DAJ Bracewell (NZ) 868.2       6/40        Hobart           2011 W

M Muralidaran (SL)   857.5      8/70    Trent Bridge      2006 W

Fazal Mahmood (Pak) 849.7     6/46          Oval             1954 W

RGD Willis (ENG)      847.0     8/43       Headingley     1981 W

Check out the list of the best performances in matches that ended in draws. Unlike batsmen, bowlers find it hard to make the kind of effort needed to draw a match. 

THE BEST BOWLING DISPLAYS

In Draws

BOWLER               RTG PTS FIGURES INNS VENUE YEAR VS RES

LR GIBBS (WI)       829.6   6/60                 4     Georgetown 1968 ENG D

GD MCGRATH (AUS)     825.0   8/38                 1 LORD’S 1997 ENG D

NG COWANS (ENG)       823.4   5/42                 4 LAHORE 1984 PAK D

Sikander Bakht (PAK)      819.6   8/69                 2 DELHI             1979 IND D

WW HALL (WI)       811.1   5/63                 4 BRISBANE 1960 AUS D

CS MARTIN (NZ)       806.4   5/63                 3   AHMEDABAD 2010 IND D

ALF DE MEL (SL)       806.0   5/68                 4 CHENNAI 1982 IND D

KAPIL DEV (IND)       801.9   8/85                 1 LAHORE 1983 PAK D

AV BEDSER (ENG)       793.4   7/44                 3 Trent Bridge 1953 AUS D

BR TAYLOR (NZ)       792.5   7/74                 1 Bridgetown 1972 WI D

IN DEFEATS

BOWLER             RTG PTS FIGURES INNS VENUE YEAR VS    RES

HJ TAYFIELD (SA)   810.5 7/23                 2 DURBAN 1950 AUS L

NM LYON (AUS)   804.8 8/50                 1 Bangalore 2017 IND L

JR RATNAYEKE (SL)  788.8 8/83                 2 SIALKOT 1985 PAK L

IT BOTHAM (ENG)     774.5 8/103                 2 LORD’S 1984 WI L

Shoaib Akhtar (PAK)   769.1 5/21                 3 Colombo-PSS 2002 AUS L

I SHARMA (IND)   765.4 4/59                 3 LORD’S 2011 ENG L

KAPIL DEV (IND)   762.6 9/83                 3 Ahmedabad 1983 WI L