Top five bowling performances by Zaheer Khan

1. 4/42 (India v/s New Zealand, Super Sport Park, Centurion, March 2003)

This was the greatest spell of fast bowling seen in the early days of the new millennium. Not only did it give India their seventh win in a row, it steered them to the semi-finals of the 2003 World Cup as the Black Caps were reduced to nothing more than rubble.

Just about the only thing that New Zealand did correctly was their pre-game rendition of their national anthem. After that, it was Zaheer all the way.

The left-armer unleashed a double strike in the very first over of the game, sending back Craig McMillan and Nathan Astle with the second and third balls, shocking the normally unflappable Stephen Fleming at the other end.

He then sent Brendon McCullum’s stumps flying before trapping Chris Harris plumb in front to peg back the Kiwis as they collapsed to a below-par score, which Kaif and Dravid chased down with minimum fuss and plenty of overs to spare.

The yorker, the slower ball and the incoming delivery combined well to give ZaK his four victims. Superb stuff!