Instant Impact: The Elite Bowlers Who Claimed a Five-Wicket Haul on Their ODI Debut

In an ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 encounter against Oman, the attention fell on debutant Charlie Cassell, who wreaked havoc in the opposition batting department with his record-breaking spell. His mind-boggling seven-for grabbed the news headlines for the right reasons, leading up to the Qualifiers of the 2027 Cricket World Cup.

Winning the toss and electing to field first, new-ball bowlers Brad Currie and Brendon McMullen extracted early breakthroughs from opposite ends by getting a couple of wickets inside the powerplay. The decision to make the first change after the eleventh over further added to Oman’s misery as debutant Cassell broke through their middle order. He initiated his international career with back-to-back wickets, caving into a triple-wicket maiden over. Cassell removed Zeeshan Maqsood, Ayaan Khan, and Khalid Kail in his first over itself. 

Having bagged half the wickets by a dozen overs, Oman succumbed to Cassell’s brilliance as the right-arm pacer went on to add four more wickets to his tally, outfoxing on-song Pratik Athavale for 34 off 56 balls. He ended with figures of 7/21 in 5.4 overs, helping Scotland bundle the Oman side for 91 in 21.4 overs. 

After the match, Cassell was caught candid in an interview where he highlighted his feelings about taking a seven-for on debut.

"It's a bit surreal. You wake up hoping to get one or two on your debut, you don't expect to get seven! You don't feel too under pressure with the boys; they just want you to enjoy your cricket. I felt very relaxed, just hoping to find the right spot, and today was just one of those days,” Cassell expressed after the match.

Playing at his home turf of Forfarshire ground, Forthill, Cassell came into the side as a replacement for Chris Sole, who was unavailable for personal reasons. His record-breaking bowling put Kagiso Rabada’s six-for behind in the list of best bowling figures on ODI debut.

Out of the 15 players to have perfected an ODI debut with a five-wicket haul, only a couple of them managed to bag six wickets. Kagiso Rabada of South Africa and Fidel Edwards of the West Indies managed to pull off this heist and make a mark with the stupendous bowling on debut. 

Making his debut on the first ODI of a three-match series in the tour of Bangladesh, Rabada shared the new white rock with Kyle Abbott against the likes of Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar. After a decent first over, Rabada spat fire with the ball, cleaning up Tamim for a duck with a peach. A fuller delivery, aimed at the stumps, was enough to beat the inside edge of the veteran Bangladeshi cricketer, making way for an early Bangladesh collapse.

In the immediate next delivery, Rabada bowled full at the pads and Litton miscued a flick towards Farhan Behardien at midwicket. He dragged the length shade short on the hat-trick delivery to trap Mahmadullah Riyad plumb in front. Striking with a hat-trick on his international debut, Rabada was mobbed by his teammates for the right reasons.

Just when Bangladesh was pushed on the back foot by the right-arm pacer Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya tried to forge a mini-partnership, only to be fragmented by Rabada. The young gun went on to a couple of more wickets, finishing with figures that read 8-3-16-6. With his exceptional figures, the Johannesburg-born star became the second player to bag a six-for on debut. Additionally, he joined Bangladesh’s Taijul Islam to have taken a hat-trick on debut. Later on, Sri Lanka’s Wanindu Hasaranga and Shehan Madushanka replicated a similar feat in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

Twelve years before Rabada’s ODI debut, West Indies travelled to Zimbabwe for a five-match ODI series under captain Brian Lara when Fidel Edwards produced bowling mayhem in the fourth encounter. After the toss favoured the hosts and the Windies were put in to bat first, Wavell Hinds’ 141-ball 127 coupled with Chris Gayle’s 51 and Ramnaresh Sarwan’s 47 propelled the visitors to 256/3 in 45 overs. 

Eyeing to chase it down in a rain-curtailed game, the Chevrons fell victim to a serious bowling heat from a debutant. Transcending his domestic brilliance in the international strata, Fidel tore apart the opposition's batting order with his newball spell. He extracted five wickets in his opening burst including the wickets of Barney Rogers, Vusi Sibanda, Craig Wishart, Mark Vermeulen and Stuart Matsikenyeri. Later on, he also knocked the stumps of wicketkeeper-batter Tatenda Taibu who scored a gritty 85-ball 66. In the end, the Men in Maroon won the game by 72 runs (DLS), and Fidel was adjudged the Player of the Match for his sensational figures of 7-1-22-6.

With wickets, economy is crucial to determining a bowler’s ability and class. Bowlers can take wickets but go for an excessive amount of runs in white-ball cricket. So, it is important to pay greater heed to ones who can check runs, especially in the white ball format. In the above list of best bowling figures on ODI debut, a few of those were expensive with the ball, irrespective of churning out wickets. However, there were a few of those who were extremely lethal, not only picking up pivotal wickets but also curbing runs against the opponents. 

Jan Frylinck of Namibia had quite a memorable ODI debut performance after picking up a fifer and conceding only 13 runs against Oman in 2019. He opened the bowling with JJ Smit and extracted five wickets, including a maiden over. The pacer removed Jatindar Singh, Zeeshan Maqsood, Aqib Ilyas, Fayaz Butt and Suraj Kumar, what caved into a memorable debut outing in an ICC World Cricket League Division Two match in Windhoek.

Additionally, Kagiso Rabada and Fidel Edwards, who claimed six-fors on their respective debuts, were equally scintillating with the ball. Both pacers were economical with their bursts, fragmenting the opposition's batting order with their strengths. Charlie Cassell of Scotland, who replaced Chris Sole in the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2024 Division Two match, had an economy of under four in his ruthless spell. 

Yet another display of economical spell on ODI debut was recorded by Christopher Dodemaide, a right-arm medium-pacer from Australia. He initiated his cricket career with figures of 7.2-0-28-5, helping Australia defend a 249-run total by folding up Sri Lanka for 168 in 1988. The Victorian had a great season where he scored fifty at No. 9 while scalping a six-fer against Trans-Tasmanian rivals New Zealand, on Test debut. However, Dodemaide’s career didn’t peak as anticipated, making only 34 international appearances across formats.