# List of international cricket five-wicket hauls by Muttiah Muralitharan

In cricket, a five-wicket haul—also known as a five–for or fifer—refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded as a notable achievement; only eleven bowlers have taken more than 30 five-wicket hauls in their Test cricketing careers. Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan has the most five-wicket hauls in Test cricket, and also the second-highest number of five-wicket hauls in One Day Internationals (ODI). He did not take any five-wicket hauls in a Twenty20 International, where his best bowling figures were 3 wickets for 29 runs. One of the most experienced bowlers in international cricket, Muralitharan is the leading wicket taker in both Tests and ODIs. He was declared as the "best bowler ever" in Test cricket by the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002, and the Sri Lankan team depended heavily on the off spinner for wickets.
Muralitharan is well ahead of other bowlers by number of five-wicket hauls in Tests with 67 to his name; Australian cricketer Shane Warne ranks in second place with 37. Making his Test debut in 1992, Muralitharan took his first five-wicket haul a year later against South Africa. He performed this feat against every other Test playing nation. He went on to take ten or more wickets per match on 22 occasions—also a world record—while Shane Warne ranks second, having achieved this on 10 occasions. His career best is 9 wickets for 51 runs against Zimbabwe, which ranks as the world's fifth-best figures in an innings. He was most successful against Bangladesh and South Africa, with 11 five-wicket hauls against each team. Fourteen of Muralitharan's five-wicket hauls were taken at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground (SSC) in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He retired from Test cricket in July 2010, capturing his 67th and final five-wicket haul during his last match.
In ODIs, Muralitharan is ranked second in number of five-wicket hauls to Pakistani cricketer Waqar Younis. He played his first ODI in 1993, and took his first ODI five-wicket haul in 1998 against Pakistan. He repeated this performance against seven different opponents. His career best of 7 wickets for 30 runs is the fourth-best bowling figures in ODI history.

## Key

| Symbol | Meaning |
| Date | Day the Test started or ODI held |
| Inn | Innings in which five-wicket haul was taken |
| Overs | Number of overs bowled |
| Runs | Number of runs conceded |
| Wkts | Number of wickets taken |
| Econ | Runs conceded per over |
| Batsmen | Batsmen whose wickets were taken |
| Result | Result for the Sri Lanka team |
| * | One of two five-wicket hauls by Muralitharan in a match |
| † | 10 or more wickets taken in the match |
| ‡ | Muralitharan was selected as man of the match |

## Tests

Five-wicket hauls in Test cricket by Muttiah Muralitharan :
| No. | Date | Ground | Against | Inn | Overs | Runs | Wkts | Econ | Batsmen | Result |
| 1 | 25 August 1993 | Tyronne Fernando Stadium, Moratuwa | South Africa | 2 | 39 | 104 | 5 | 2.66 | Kepler Wessels Hansie Cronje Jonty Rhodes Pat Symcox Clive Eksteen | Drawn |
| 2 | 6 September 1993 | Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo | South Africa | 2 | 54 | 101 | 5 | 1.87 | Kepler Wessels Daryll Cullinan Brian McMillan Dave Richardson Brett Schultz | Lost |
| 3 | 18 January 1994 | K.D. Singh Babu Stadium, Lucknow | India | 1 | 41.5 | 162 | 5 | 3.87 | Navjot Singh Sidhu Sanjay Manjrekar Kapil Dev Nayan Mongia Rajesh Chauhan | Lost |
| 4 | 11 March 1995 | McLean Park, Napier | New Zealand | 4 | 36 | 64 | 5 | 1.77 | Bryan Young Mark Greatbatch Stephen Fleming Shane Thomson Adam Parore | Won |
| 5 | 15 September 1995 ‡ | Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad | Pakistan | 2 | 23.3 | 68 | 5 | 2.89 | Saeed Anwar Aamer Sohail Saqlain Mushtaq Moin Khan Aaqib Javed | Won |
| 6 | 11 September 1996 | R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo | Zimbabwe | 3 | 20.3 | 33 | 5 | 1.60 | Grant Flower Alistair Campbell Andy Flower Paul Strang Andrew Whittall | Won |
| 7 | 19 April 1997 | R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo | Pakistan | 2 | 53 | 98 | 6 | 1.84 | Ijaz Ahmed Inzamam-ul-Haq Asif Mujtaba Moin Khan Mushtaq Ahmed Shahid Nazir | Drawn |
| 8 | 13 June 1997 | Antigua Recreation Ground, St. John's | West Indies | 2 | 23.4 | 34 | 5 | 1.43 | Carl Hooper Courtney Browne Ian Bishop Franklyn Rose Courtney Walsh | Lost |
| 9 | 20 June 1997 | The Playing Fields, Kingstown | West Indies | 3 | 41 | 113 | 5 | 2.75 | Stuart Williams Roland Holder Ian Bishop Courtney Browne Courtney Walsh | Drawn |
| 10 | 7 January 1998 * † ‡ | Asgiriya Stadium, Kandy | Zimbabwe | 2 | 29 | 23 | 5 | 0.79 | Grant Flower Craig Wishart Paul Strang Heath Streak Bryan Strang | Won |
| 11 | 7 January 1998 * † ‡ | Asgiriya Stadium, Kandy | Zimbabwe | 3 | 42.5 | 94 | 7 | 2.19 | Gavin Rennie Murray Goodwin Andrew Whittall Andy Flower Craig Wishart Paul Strang Adam Huckle | Won |
| 12 | 27 March 1998 | Centurion Park, Centurion | South Africa | 2 | 30 | 63 | 5 | 2.10 | Gary Kirsten Hansie Cronje Shaun Pollock Mark Boucher Allan Donald | Lost |
| 13 | 27 May 1998 | R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo | New Zealand | 1 | 38.2 | 90 | 5 | 2.34 | Brian Young Craig McMillan Chris Cairns Daniel Vettori Paul Wiseman | Lost |
| 14 | 10 June 1998 | Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo | New Zealand | 4 | 18.3 | 30 | 5 | 1.62 | Brian Young Craig Spearman Nathan Astle Craig McMillan Daniel Vettori | Won |
| 15 | 27 August 1998 * † ‡ | The Oval, Kennington | England | 1 | 59.3 | 155 | 7 | 2.60 | Steve James Mark Ramprakash Ben Hollioake Dominic Cork Ian Salisbury Darren Gough Angus Fraser | Won |
| 16 | 27 August 1998 * † ‡ | The Oval, Kennington | England | 3 | 54.2 | 65 | 9 | 1.19 | Mark Butcher Steve James Graeme Hick Mark Ramprakash John Crawley Ben Hollioake Dominic Cork Ian Salisbury Darren Gough | Won |
| 17 | 22 September 1999 | Galle International Stadium, Galle | Australia | 2 | 38 | 71 | 5 | 1.86 | Michael Slater Greg Blewett Justin Langer Mark Waugh Ian Healy | Drawn |
| 18 | 5 March 2000 † ‡ | Arbab Niaz Stadium, Peshawar | Pakistan | 4 | 27.1 | 71 | 6 | 2.61 | Shahid Afridi Inzamam-ul-Haq Mohammad Yousuf Abdul Razzaq Waqar Younis Arshad Khan | Won |
| 19 | 14 June 2000 | Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo | Pakistan | 2 | 47 | 115 | 5 | 2.44 | Saeed Anwar Younis Khan Mohammad Yousuf Waqar Younis Mushtaq Ahmed | Lost |
| 20 | 20 July 2000 * † ‡ | Galle International Stadium, Galle | South Africa | 2 | 41 | 87 | 6 | 2.12 | Gary Kirsten Neil McKenzie Jacques Kallis Jonty Rhodes Mark Boucher Shaun Pollock | Won |
| 21 | 20 July 2000 * † ‡ | Galle International Stadium, Galle | South Africa | 3 | 35 | 84 | 7 | 2.40 | Daryll Cullinan Lance Klusener Mark Boucher Shaun Pollock Nicky Boje Paul Adams Makhaya Ntini | Won |
| 22 | 6 August 2000 ‡ | Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo | South Africa | 3 | 45.5 | 68 | 5 | 1.48 | Gary Kirsten Daryll Cullinan Jonty Rhodes Lance Klusener Mark Boucher | Drawn |
| 23 | 26 December 2000 * † | Sahara Stadium Kingsmead, Durban | South Africa | 1 | 58.3 | 122 | 5 | 2.08 | Daryll Cullinan Neil McKenzie Mark Boucher Lance Klusener Nicky Boje | Drawn |
| 24 | 26 December 2000 * † | Sahara Stadium Kingsmead, Durban | South Africa | 3 | 10 | 39 | 6 | 3.90 | Boeta Dippenaar Gary Kirsten Jacques Kallis Shaun Pollock Mark Boucher Neil McKenzie | Drawn |
| 25 | 14 August 2001 | Galle International Stadium, Galle | India | 3 | 26.5 | 49 | 5 | 1.82 | Mohammad Kaif Hemang Badani Sameer Dighe Harbhajan Singh Venkatesh Prasad | Won |
| 26 | 29 August 2001 † ‡ | Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo | India | 1 | 34.1 | 87 | 8 | 2.54 | Shiv Sunder Das Sadagoppan Ramesh Rahul Dravid Sourav Ganguly Hemang Badani Sameer Dighe Sairaj Bahutule Zaheer Khan | Won |
| 27 | 6 September 2001 * † ‡ | Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo | Bangladesh | 1 | 9.4 | 13 | 5 | 1.34 | Al Sahariar Naimur Rahman Mohammad Ashraful Khaled Mashud Hasibul Hossain | Won |
| 28 | 6 September 2001 * † ‡ | Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo | Bangladesh | 3 | 35.3 | 98 | 5 | 2.76 | Javed Omar Mehrab Hossain Habibul Bashar Khaled Mashud Mohammad Sharif | Won |
| 29 | 13 November 2001 * † ‡ | Galle International Stadium, Galle | West Indies | 1 | 53.4 | 126 | 6 | 2.34 | Ramnaresh Sarwan Brian Lara Carl Hooper Marlon Samuels Neil McGarrell Colin Stuart | Won |
| 30 | 13 November 2001 * † ‡ | Galle International Stadium, Galle | West Indies | 3 | 31.3 | 44 | 5 | 1.39 | Ramnaresh Sarwan Marlon Samuels Ridley Jacobs Mervyn Dillon Colin Stuart | Won |
| 31 | 21 November 2001 † ‡ | Asgiriya Stadium, Kandy | West Indies | 4 | 35.5 | 81 | 6 | 2.26 | Daren Ganga Ramnaresh Sarwan Marlon Samuels Mervyn Dillon Pedro Collins Colin Stuart | Won |
| 32 | 4 January 2002 † ‡ | Asgiriya Stadium, Kandy | Zimbabwe | 1 | 40 | 51 | 9 | 1.27 | Hamilton Masakadza Trevor Gripper Stuart Carlisle Gavin Rennie Andy Flower Grant Flower Craig Wishart Heath Streak Dougie Marillier | Won |
| 33 | 12 January 2002 | Galle International Stadium, Galle | Zimbabwe | 2 | 58.3 | 67 | 5 | 1.14 | Stuart Carlisle Andy Flower Grant Flower Travis Friend Henry Olonga | Won |
| 34 | 30 May 2002 | Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Birmingham | England | 2 | 64 | 143 | 5 | 2.23 | Michael Vaughan Mark Butcher Nasser Hussain Alec Stewart Andrew Flintoff | Lost |
| 35 | 21 July 2002 * † ‡ | Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium, Colombo | Bangladesh | 1 | 19.4 | 39 | 5 | 1.98 | Habibul Bashar Aminul Islam Khaled Mashud Enamul Haque Alamgir Kabir | Won |
| 36 | 21 July 2002 * † ‡ | Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium, Colombo | Bangladesh | 3 | 25 | 59 | 5 | 2.36 | Al Sahariar Habibul Bashar Akram Khan Aminul Islam Manjural Islam Rana | Won |
| 37 | 3 May 2003 | Asgiriya Stadium, Kandy | New Zealand | 3 | 39 | 49 | 5 | 1.25 | Matt Horne Mathew Sinclair Jacob Oram Daniel Vettori Daryl Tuffey | Drawn |
| 38 | 20 June 2003 | Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet | West Indies | 2 | 50 | 138 | 5 | 2.76 | Chris Gayle Ramnaresh Sarwan Marlon Samuels Ridley Jacobs Corey Collymore | Drawn |
| 39 | 2 December 2003 † ‡ | Galle International Stadium, Galle | England | 2 | 31.4 | 46 | 7 | 1.45 | Marcus Trescothick Michael Vaughan Paul Collingwood Andrew Flintoff Chris Read Ashley Giles Richard Johnson | Drawn |
| 40 | 8 March 2004 * † | Galle International Stadium, Galle | Australia | 1 | 21.3 | 59 | 6 | 2.74 | Matthew Hayden Darren Lehmann Andrew Symonds Adam Gilchrist Michael Kasprowicz Stuart MacGill | Lost |
| 41 | 8 March 2004 * † | Galle International Stadium, Galle | Australia | 3 | 56 | 153 | 5 | 2.73 | Matthew Hayden Damien Martyn Darren Lehmann Andrew Symonds Shane Warne | Lost |
| 42 | 16 March 2004 | Asgiriya Stadium, Kandy | Australia | 3 | 50.3 | 173 | 5 | 3.42 | Adam Gilchrist Damien Martyn Andrew Symonds Shane Warne Jason Gillespie | Lost |
| 43 | 24 March 2004 | Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo | Australia | 1 | 37.1 | 123 | 5 | 3.30 | Darren Lehmann Simon Katich Adam Gilchrist Shane Warne Jason Gillespie | Lost |
| 44 | 6 May 2004 | Harare Sports Club, Harare | Zimbabwe | 1 | 24.2 | 45 | 6 | 1.84 | Tatenda Taibu Alester Maregwede Mluleki Nkala Prosper Utseya Blessing Mahwire Douglas Hondo | Won |
| 45 | 13 July 2005 | Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo | West Indies | 3 | 21 | 36 | 6 | 1.71 | Sylvester Joseph Denesh Ramdin Omari Banks Daren Powell Tino Best Jermaine Lawson | Won |
| 46 | 22 July 2005 † | Asgiriya Stadium, Kandy | West Indies | 4 | 16.2 | 46 | 8 | 2.81 | Ryan Ramdass Runako Morton Sylvester Joseph Narsingh Deonarine Denesh Ramdin Omari Banks Daren Powell Tino Best | Won |
| 47 | 12 September 2005 ‡ | R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo | Bangladesh | 3 | 10.4 | 18 | 6 | 1.68 | Shahriar Nafees Mohammad Ashraful Tushar Imran Aftab Ahmed Mohammad Rafique Enamul Haque Jr | Won |
| 48 | 10 December 2005 | Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi | India | 1 | 38.4 | 100 | 7 | 2.58 | Rahul Dravid VVS Laxman Sachin Tendulkar Sourav Ganguly MS Dhoni Irfan Pathan Harbhajan Singh | Lost |
| 49 | 28 February 2006 | Chittagong Divisional Stadium, Chittagong | Bangladesh | 3 | 19.5 | 54 | 6 | 2.72 | Shahriar Nafees Mohammad Ashraful Khaled Mashud Alok Kapali Mohammad Rafique Enamul Haque Jr | Won |
| 50 | 8 March 2006 | Shaheed Chandu Stadium, Bogra | Bangladesh | 1 | 30.5 | 79 | 5 | 2.56 | Javed Omar Nafees Iqbal Habibul Bashar Mushfiqur Rahim Syed Rasel | Won |
| 51 | 3 April 2006 | Asgiriya Stadium, Kandy | Pakistan | 2 | 16.4 | 39 | 5 | 2.34 | Kamran Akmal Mohammad Yousuf Faisal Iqbal Abdul Razzaq Danish Kaneria | Lost |
| 52 | 25 May 2006 † | Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Birmingham | England | 2 | 25 | 86 | 6 | 3.44 | Marcus Trescothick Alastair Cook Kevin Pietersen Paul Collingwood Geraint Jones Liam Plunkett | Lost |
| 53 | 2 June 2006 † ‡ | Trent Bridge, Nottingham | England | 4 | 30 | 70 | 8 | 2.33 | Marcus Trescothick Andrew Strauss Alastair Cook Kevin Pietersen Paul Collingwood Andrew Flintoff Geraint Jones Jon Lewis | Won |
| 54 | 27 July 2006 † | Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo | South Africa | 3 | 64 | 131 | 6 | 2.04 | Andrew Hall Ashwell Prince AB de Villiers Herschelle Gibbs André Nel Dale Steyn | Won |
| 55 | 4 August 2006 * † | Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium, Colombo | South Africa | 1 | 33.5 | 128 | 5 | 3.78 | Hashim Amla Ashwell Prince Mark Boucher Dale Steyn Makhaya Ntini | Won |
| 56 | 4 August 2006 * † | Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium, Colombo | South Africa | 3 | 46.5 | 97 | 7 | 2.07 | Herschelle Gibbs Ashwell Prince AB de Villiers Mark Boucher Shaun Pollock Nicky Boje Dale Steyn | Won |
| 57 | 15 December 2006 † | Basin Reserve, Wellington | New Zealand | 4 | 34.1 | 87 | 6 | 2.54 | Craig Cumming Mathew Sinclair Nathan Astle Brendon McCullum Daniel Vettori James Franklin | Won |
| 58 | 25 June 2007 ‡ | Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo | Bangladesh | 1 | 7.3 | 15 | 5 | 2.00 | Rajin Saleh Shakib Al Hasan Mashrafe Mortaza Mohammad Rafique Abdur Razzak | Won |
| 59 | 11 July 2007 * † ‡ | Asgiriya Stadium, Kandy | Bangladesh | 1 | 14.5 | 28 | 6 | 1.88 | Shahriar Nafees Rajin Saleh Mashrafe Mortaza Mohammad Rafique Shahadat Hossain Syed Rasel | Won |
| 60 | 11 July 2007 * † ‡ | Asgiriya Stadium, Kandy | Bangladesh | 3 | 21 | 54 | 6 | 2.57 | Shahriar Nafees Habibul Bashar Mohammad Ashraful Mashrafe Mortaza Shahadat Hossain Syed Rasel | Won |
| 61 | 1 December 2007 | Asgiriya Stadium, Kandy | England | 2 | 35 | 55 | 6 | 1.57 | Michael Vaughan Ian Bell Kevin Pietersen Paul Collingwood Ravi Bopara Matthew Hoggard | Won |
| 62 | 9 December 2007 | Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo | England | 1 | 47.2 | 116 | 5 | 2.45 | Michael Vaughan Ian Bell Matthew Prior Ryan Sidebottom Steve Harmison | Drawn |
| 63 | 3 April 2008 | Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain | West Indies | 2 | 29.2 | 79 | 5 | 2.69 | Ramnaresh Sarwan Marlon Samuels Devon Smith Denesh Ramdin Daren Powell | Lost |
| 64 | 23 July 2008 * † ‡ | Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo | India | 2 | 29 | 84 | 5 | 2.89 | Gautam Gambhir Sachin Tendulkar Sourav Ganguly Dinesh Karthik Harbhajan Singh | Won |
| 65 | 23 July 2008 * † ‡ | Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, Colombo | India | 3 | 13 | 26 | 6 | 2.00 | Gautam Gambhir Virender Sehwag Sachin Tendulkar Sourav Ganguly Dinesh Karthik Anil Kumble | Won |
| 66 | 26 December 2008 † | Sher-e-Bangla Stadium, Mirpur | Bangladesh | 2 | 22 | 49 | 6 | 2.22 | Tamim Iqbal Junaid Siddique Shakib Al Hasan Mashrafe Mortaza Shahadat Hossain Mahbubul Alam | Won |
| 67 | 18 July 2010 | Galle International Stadium, Galle | India | 2 | 17 | 63 | 5 | 3.70 | Sachin Tendulkar Yuvraj Singh MS Dhoni Pragyan Ojha Abhimanyu Mithun | Won |

## One Day Internationals

Five-wicket hauls in ODIs by Muttiah Muralitharan :
| No. | Date | Ground | Against | Inn | Overs | Runs | Wkts | Econ | Batsmen | Result |
| 1 | 25 April 1998 | Willowmoore Park, Benoni | Pakistan | 2 | 9.2 | 23 | 5 | 2.46 | Saeed Anwar Azhar Mahmood Wasim Akram Rashid Latif Waqar Younis | Won |
| 2 | 20 August 1998 ‡ | Lord's, London | England | 1 | 10 | 34 | 5 | 3.40 | Nick Knight Mike Atherton Alec Stewart Ali Brown Nasser Hussain | Won |
| 3 | 14 July 2000 ‡ | R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo | South Africa | 2 | 10 | 44 | 5 | 4.40 | Gary Kirsten Andrew Hall Nicky Boje Lance Klusener Shaun Pollock | Won |
| 4 | 27 October 2000 ‡ | Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah | India | 2 | 10 | 30 | 7 | 3.00 | Sachin Tendulkar Robin Singh Vinod Kambli Yuvraj Singh Hemang Badani Vijay Dahiya Sunil Joshi | Won |
| 5 | 31 January 2001 ‡ | McLean Park, Napier | New Zealand | 2 | 7.5 | 30 | 5 | 3.82 | Roger Twose Adam Parore Daniel Vettori Andrew Penn Chris Martin | Won |
| 6 | 9 April 2002 | Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah | New Zealand | 1 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 0.90 | Chris Nevin Stephen Fleming Scott Styris Chris Harris Mathew Sinclair | Lost |
| 7 | 18 May 2003 ‡ | Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, Dambulla | Pakistan | 2 | 9.4 | 23 | 5 | 2.37 | Mohammad Yousuf Shoaib Malik Abdul Razzaq Shoaib Akhtar Shabbir Ahmed | Won |
| 8 | 29 April 2004 | Harare Sports Club, Harare | Zimbabwe | 2 | 10 | 23 | 5 | 2.30 | Stuart Matsikenyeri Tatenda Taibu Elton Chigumbura Prosper Utseya Douglas Hondo | Won |
| 9 | 30 June 2008 | National Stadium, Karachi | Bangladesh | 2 | 10 | 31 | 5 | 3.10 | Raqibul Hasan Mushfiqur Rahim Alok Kapali Abdur Razzak Mashrafe Mortaza | Won |
| 10 | 30 November 2008 ‡ | Harare Sports Club, Harare | Zimbabwe | 2 | 10 | 29 | 5 | 2.90 | Vusi Sibanda Chamu Chibhabha Stuart Matsikenyeri Elton Chigumbura Ray Price | Won |