Our One Day International (ODI) ratings take into account all matches from the first ODI match on January 5, 1971 till the below mentioned last update date. Our ratings are dynamic, and as new matches are played, the rating of earlier bowlers may change if current bowlers set new benchmarks. Brief explanation of the ratings is given before each section (Detailed Explanation). So, here are the Top 7 South African Spin bowlers in ODI cricket in all matches.

*Note: All ODI Ratings are updated till 2025-09-15

CONTENTS

3. PRIMARY CRITERIA

3.1. PROLIFIC

3.2. CONSISTENT

3.2.1. Against All Teams

3.2.2. Against Top Teams

3.3. ECONOMIC

3.3.1. Against All Teams

3.3.2. Against Top Teams

3.4. BEST BOWLING BY WKTS (NWT)

3.5. BEST BOWLING BY ECO (NWT)

3.6. PRIMARY RATING

4. CONDITIONS CRITERIA

4.1. HOME/AWAY

4.1.1. At Home

4.1.2. Away From Home

4.2. FAVOURABLE/UNFAVOURABLE CONDITIONS

4.2.1. Favourable Conditions Rating

4.2.1.1. Non Asians In Asia

4.2.2. Unfavourable Conditions Rating

4.2.2.1. Non Asians Outside Asia

4.3. CONDITIONS RATING

5. SECONDARY CRITERIA

5.1. WORLD CUP

5.2. IMPACT INNINGS

5.3. TOP FORM

5.4. SECONDARY RATING

6. OVERALL RATING

7. NON WEAK TEAMS

8. TOP TEAMS

Nations Filter

The Nations Rating filters the OVERALL Rating to show players only from South Africa.

The Rating of the players from South Africa remains the same as in the original OVERALL Rating.
Thus the Trend Setter can be from any nation and is not necessarily from South Africa.

THE CRITERIA

CRITERIA	CONSTITUENTS
Primary	Wickets, Average, Economy, BBI (Wkts & Eco)
Conditions	Home, Away, In Asia, Outside Asia
Secondary	World Cup, Top Form, Impact Inns

The Trend Setter (TS)

TS is the player which does the best in a criteria. The rating of all other players are calculated taking the TS as the benchmark. Know All About TS. Here is an example:-

TS Ave: 25.00; Player X Ave: 30.00; Section Points: 300.00
TS Points: 300.00(Max); Player X Points: TS Ave/Ave X 300 = 25.00/30.00 X 300 = 250.00
Ratings of all sections are calculated similarly with Ave being replaced by the Criteria Stat.

TT and NWT

Some sections consider performances only against the top teams (TT) and non weak teams (NWT). Here is some information:-

Win/Loss Ratio is used to determine TT and NWT.
They are calculated by decades.
A bowler's performace is counted in TT or NWT if it comes against that team in the specific decade.
Knock Out and Super Six matches of ODI World Cup are also counted.
TT & NWT may be found in the last section.

QUALIFICATION

Min Innings (TT)	25
Min Career Wkts	50

PRIMARY CRITERIA

The Primary Rating is divided into 5 main sections:-

CRITERIA	STAT	POINTS
Prolific	Wickets Taken	200.00
Consistent	Average	300.00
Economic	Strike Rate	300.00
Best Bowling	Top Inns (Wkts)	100.00
Economic Bowling	Top Inns (Eco)	100.00

PROLIFIC

The Eras

The time period of ODI cricket is divided into eras for this section. This is because less cricket was played earlier. To make it fair for earlier players they are compared with players of the same period with a slight reduction in points. Know More About Eras.

Era 1	MP before 1991
Era 2	MP between 1990 And 2011
Era 3	MP greater than 2010

Criteria: Points For Wickets Taken

RANK	ERA 1	NAT	FP	LP	MP	INNS	WKTS	RAT
TS	Abdul Qadir	PAK	1983	1993	1988	100	132	120.00

RANK	ERA 2	NAT	FP	LP	MP	INNS	WKTS	RAT
TS	M Muralitharan	SL	1993	2011	2002	341	534	200.00
1	N Boje	SA	1995	2005	2000	108	96	35.96
2	RJ Peterson	SA	2002	2014	2008	74	75	28.09
3	PL Symcox	SA	1993	1999	1996	80	72	26.97
3	J Botha	SA	2005	2012	2008.5	75	72	26.97

RANK	ERA 3	NAT	FP	LP	MP	INNS	WKTS	RAT
TS	Shakib Al Hasan	BAN	2006	2023	2014.5	241	317	160.00
1	Imran Tahir	SA	2011	2019	2015	104	173	87.32
2	T Shamsi	SA	2016	2025	2020.5	52	73	36.85
2	KA Maharaj	SA	2017	2025	2021	55	73	36.85

CONSISTENT

R Ave

Relative Average (R Ave) is a more accurate type of average. Know How It Is Calculated. Briefly it takes into account:-

Strength of Opposition.
Venues at which a bowler has played.
Time Period in which he has been active

Criteria: Points For Relative Average

Min Qualification For TS
Min Wickets	100
Min Wickets (TT)	60

Against All Teams

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	RUNS	WKTS	AVE	R AVE	RAT
TS	Saqlain Mushtaq	165	6275	288	21.79	22.14	150.00
1	Imran Tahir	104	4297	173	24.84	22.97	144.62
2	KA Maharaj	55	2272	73	31.12	30.21	109.93
3	T Shamsi	52	2510	73	34.38	34.10	97.40
4	RJ Peterson	74	2680	75	35.73	34.37	96.62
5	N Boje	108	3416	96	35.58	35.77	92.85
6	J Botha	75	2916	72	40.50	36.25	91.61
7	PL Symcox	80	2762	72	38.36	38.09	87.20

Against Top Teams

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	RUNS	WKTS	AVE	R AVE	RAT
TS	Saeed Ajmal	77	2969	132	22.49	21.56	150.00
1	Imran Tahir	77	3286	109	30.15	26.18	123.55
2	KA Maharaj	40	1692	52	32.54	30.46	106.20
3	N Boje	87	2754	82	33.59	32.80	98.63
4	T Shamsi	38	1845	51	36.18	34.40	94.02
5	RJ Peterson	59	2215	57	38.86	36.00	89.85
6	PL Symcox	57	1963	53	37.04	36.13	89.52
7	J Botha	52	2036	45	45.24	39.16	82.61

ECONOMIC

R ER

Relative Economy Rate (R ER) for bowlers is calculated using the same method as R Ave with average being replaced with ER.

Criteria: Points For R ER

Min Qualification For TS
Min Balls	1500

Against All Teams

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	BLS	RUNS	ER	R ER	RAT
TS	SP Narine	65	3540	2435	4.13	3.71	150.00
1	KA Maharaj	55	2885	2272	4.73	3.98	139.84
2	PL Symcox	80	3991	2762	4.15	4.17	133.44
3	Imran Tahir	104	5541	4297	4.65	4.17	133.34
4	J Botha	75	3823	2916	4.58	4.26	130.59
5	N Boje	108	4541	3416	4.51	4.32	128.77
6	RJ Peterson	74	3278	2680	4.91	4.51	123.40
7	T Shamsi	52	2697	2510	5.58	4.72	117.74

Against Top Teams

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	BLS	RUNS	ER	R ER	RAT
TS	SP Narine	54	2922	2044	4.20	3.71	150.00
1	KA Maharaj	40	2174	1692	4.67	3.94	141.53
2	PL Symcox	57	2832	1963	4.16	4.11	135.61
3	Imran Tahir	77	4154	3286	4.75	4.17	133.54
4	J Botha	52	2576	2036	4.74	4.33	128.77
5	N Boje	87	3590	2754	4.60	4.34	128.46
6	RJ Peterson	59	2666	2215	4.98	4.51	123.66
7	T Shamsi	38	1980	1845	5.59	4.89	113.98

BEST BOWLING BY WKTS (NWT)

BBW

In this criteria, we have taken the top 5 bowling performances by Wkts of a bowler against Non Weak Teams in all matches. Best Bowling By Wickets (BBW) is simply the total wickets taken in the 5 innings divided by 5.

Criteria: Points For Wkts Taken In Top 5 Inns

RANK	BOWLER	1	2	3	4	5	BBW	RAT
TS	Shahid Afridi	7/12	6/38	5/23	5/35	5/40	5.60	100.00
1	Imran Tahir	7/45	5/45	4/26	4/27	4/28	4.80	85.71
2	T Shamsi	5/49	4/33	4/60	4/61	3/36	4.00	71.43
2	KA Maharaj	5/33	4/22	4/33	4/46	3/25	4.00	71.43
4	N Boje	5/21	4/25	4/31	3/23	3/29	3.80	67.86
5	RJ Peterson	4/12	4/32	3/22	3/37	3/42	3.40	60.71
6	PL Symcox	4/28	3/20	3/27	2/18	2/20	2.80	50.00
7	J Botha	3/27	3/32	3/34	2/22	2/28	2.60	46.43

BEST BOWLING BY ECO (NWT)

BBE

In this criteria, we have taken the top 5 bowling performances by Economy of a bowler against Non Weak Teams. Best Bowling By Economy (BBE) is the Relative Economy of the bowler in the 5 Inns. Only 30+ Balls performaces are counted in this criteria.

Criteria: Points For Economy In Top 5 Inns

RANK	BOWLER	1	2	3	4	5	BBE	RAT
TS	M Muralitharan	10.0/9	10.0/9	6.0/6	9.0/11	8.0/12	1.07	100.00
1	PL Symcox	10.0/18	10.0/20	10.0/20	10.0/21	8.0/18	2.03	52.80
2	Imran Tahir	10.0/14	9.2/21	10.0/26	10.0/26	10.0/28	2.09	51.26
3	N Boje	7.0/13	8.0/19	5.0/12	10.0/25	8.0/21	2.27	47.26
4	KA Maharaj	10.0/24	10.0/25	8.0/23	10.0/30	10.0/30	2.31	46.27
5	J Botha	10.0/21	10.0/27	8.0/22	10.0/28	10.0/32	2.52	42.50
6	RJ Peterson	7.0/12	8.0/22	9.0/28	7.0/22	5.0/16	2.55	41.97
7	T Shamsi	10.0/26	10.0/31	10.0/34	10.0/36	10.0/38	2.79	38.37

PRIMARY RATING

The total of the above five criteria comes out to be 1,000.00 points. The Primary Rating is the addition of the points a bowler scored in the five criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 40%.

RANK	BOWLER	PRO	CON	ECO	BBW	BBE	RAT	PRI PTS
1	Imran Tahir	87.32	268.17	266.88	85.71	51.26	759.34	303.74
2	KA Maharaj	36.85	216.13	281.37	71.43	46.27	652.05	260.82
3	N Boje	35.96	191.47	257.23	67.86	47.26	599.77	239.91
4	PL Symcox	26.97	176.71	269.05	50.00	52.80	575.54	230.21
5	T Shamsi	36.85	191.41	231.72	71.43	38.37	569.77	227.91
6	RJ Peterson	28.09	186.48	247.06	60.71	41.97	564.30	225.72
7	J Botha	26.97	174.22	259.36	46.43	42.50	549.47	219.79

CONDITIONS CRITERIA

The Conditions Rating is calculated by applying the five criteria of Primary Rating to various conditions. If Innings are less than the Qualification than the Player gets 50% of the Points. Click on the Rating Titles to see how they were calculated.

The four conditions criteria and thier weightage is as follows:-

CRITERIA	POINTS
Home	20.00
Away	80.00
Favourable Conditions	20.00
Unfavourable Conditions	80.00

HOME/AWAY

HM/AW RATING

Points to note:-

U.A.E. and India are considered as Home for Afghanistan.
U.A.E. is also considered as a second home for Pakistan.
All Home and Away stats of Pakistani and Afghani bowlers are calculated accordingly.

At Home

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 7

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	ECO	RAT	WTG
1	Imran Tahir	40	68	24.44	4.65	700.40	14.01
2	N Boje	46	42	33.52	4.63	571.84	11.44
3	KA Maharaj	19	22	35.09	4.79	553.47	11.07
4	J Botha	29	30	36.00	4.25	547.10	10.94
5	T Shamsi	29	36	38.17	5.62	536.40	10.73
6	RJ Peterson	32	23	50.35	4.97	469.76	9.40
7	PL Symcox	19	16	43.50	4.80	447.26	8.95

Away From Home

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 15

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	ECO	RAT	WTG
1	Imran Tahir	64	105	25.10	4.65	769.42	61.55
2	KA Maharaj	36	51	29.41	4.69	684.87	54.79
3	PL Symcox	61	56	36.89	3.97	606.81	48.55
4	RJ Peterson	42	52	29.27	4.86	596.69	47.74
5	N Boje	62	54	37.19	4.43	577.59	46.21
6	T Shamsi	23	37	30.70	5.54	565.67	45.25
7	J Botha	46	42	43.71	4.79	526.91	42.15

FAVOURABLE/UNFAVOURABLE CONDITIONS

FC/UC RATING

Points to note:-

Unfavourable Conditions (UC) is Outside Asia for Spinners and In Asia for Pacers.
Favourable Conditions (FC) are the opposite.

Favourable Conditions Rating

Non Asians In Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 7

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	ECO	RAT	WTG
1	Imran Tahir	20	38	21.58	4.73	753.97	15.08
2	KA Maharaj	23	28	32.89	4.45	660.58	13.21
3	PL Symcox	30	28	35.57	3.97	616.80	12.34
4	T Shamsi	13	24	28.71	5.74	613.05	12.26
5	RJ Peterson	24	29	29.66	4.87	601.00	12.02
6	N Boje	28	26	36.42	4.31	580.46	11.61
7	J Botha	26	20	52.85	4.89	501.59	10.03

Unfavourable Conditions Rating

Non Asians Outside Asia

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 15

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	ECO	RAT	WTG
1	Imran Tahir	84	135	25.76	4.63	854.90	68.39
2	KA Maharaj	32	45	30.02	4.93	677.19	54.18
3	N Boje	80	70	35.27	4.59	663.56	53.09
4	J Botha	49	52	35.75	4.42	629.71	50.38
5	PL Symcox	50	44	40.14	4.26	608.22	48.66
6	RJ Peterson	50	46	39.57	4.92	591.45	47.32
7	T Shamsi	39	49	37.16	5.53	584.62	46.77

CONDITIONS RATING

The Conditions Rating is the addition of the points a bowler scored in the four criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 20%.

RANK	BOWLER	AW	HM	UC	FC	CON PTS
1	Imran Tahir	61.55	14.01	68.39	15.08	159.03
2	KA Maharaj	54.79	11.07	54.18	13.21	133.25
3	N Boje	46.21	11.44	53.09	11.61	122.34
4	PL Symcox	48.55	8.95	48.66	12.34	118.48
5	RJ Peterson	47.74	9.40	47.32	12.02	116.47
6	T Shamsi	45.25	10.73	46.77	12.26	115.01
7	J Botha	42.15	10.94	50.38	10.03	113.50

SECONDARY CRITERIA

The Secondary Rating consists of three parts. If Innings are less than the Qualification than the Player gets 50% of the Points. Click on the Rating Titles to see how they were calculated.

The three secondary criteria and thier weightage is as follows:-

CRITERIA	POINTS
World Cup	150.00
Impact Innings	150.00
Top Form	100.00

WORLD CUP

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 5

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	ECO	RAT	WTG
1	Imran Tahir	21	40	21.18	4.42	857.01	128.55
2	KA Maharaj	10	15	24.67	4.16	711.74	106.76
3	RJ Peterson	10	16	20.00	4.32	615.48	92.32
4	PL Symcox	4	6	24.83	3.73	500.00	75.00
4	N Boje	5	1	144.00	6.55	500.00	75.00
4	J Botha	5	4	42.75	4.07	500.00	75.00
7	T Shamsi	6	9	36.44	5.87	479.52	71.93

IMPACT INNINGS (II)

Impact Innings are those innings which have an impact either in terms of wickets or economy rate. Know All About II. These are the criteria for an inning to be included in II:-

A Bowler takes equal to or more wickets than 4.
A Bowler bowls more than 30 balls and has a low ER.
The required ER is calculated by the number of wickets taken.

IMPACT INNINGS

Min Innings Vs Top Teams: 25

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	II	II Perc	RAT	WTG
1	Imran Tahir	104	42	40.38	637.14	95.57
2	KA Maharaj	55	20	36.36	531.66	79.75
3	PL Symcox	80	19	23.75	473.37	71.01
4	RJ Peterson	74	16	21.62	277.65	41.65
5	N Boje	108	21	19.44	266.38	39.96
6	T Shamsi	52	9	17.31	236.87	35.53
7	J Botha	75	13	17.33	220.53	33.08

TOP FORM RATING

Points to note:-

Top Form is calculated by taking the best 50 consecutive innings of a bowler.
Only Inns against Non Weak Teams are considered in the rating.
Non Weak Teams may be found in the last section.

TOP FORM

Min Innings Vs Non Weak Teams: 15

RANK	BOWLER	INNS	WKTS	AVE	ECO	RAT	WTG
1	Imran Tahir	50	92	23.28	4.78	779.43	77.94
2	KA Maharaj	50	69	30.28	4.73	672.54	67.25
3	N Boje	50	51	27.90	4.41	604.69	60.47
4	T Shamsi	46	64	35.19	5.67	602.41	60.24
5	RJ Peterson	50	57	32.95	4.92	580.88	58.09
6	J Botha	50	53	37.11	4.55	547.43	54.74
7	PL Symcox	50	47	37.34	4.10	541.75	54.17

SECONDARY RATING

The Secondary Rating is the addition of the points a bowler scored in the three criteria. The Weightage of the Rating is 40%.

RANK	BOWLER	WC	II	TF	SEC RAT
1	Imran Tahir	128.55	95.57	77.94	302.06
2	KA Maharaj	106.76	79.75	67.25	253.76
3	PL Symcox	75.00	71.01	54.17	200.18
4	RJ Peterson	92.32	41.65	58.09	192.06
5	N Boje	75.00	39.96	60.47	175.43
6	T Shamsi	71.93	35.53	60.24	167.70
7	J Botha	75.00	33.08	54.74	162.82

OVERALL RATING

OVERALL Rating is the addition of the points of all the above criteria. The rating is out of 1,000 Pts.

RANK	OV RANK	BOWLER	NAT	PRI PTS	CON PTS	SEC PTS	FIN RAT
1	2	Imran Tahir	SA	303.74	159.03	302.06	764.83
2	21	KA Maharaj	SA	260.82	133.25	253.76	647.83
3	51	PL Symcox	SA	230.21	118.48	200.18	548.88
4	55	N Boje	SA	239.91	122.34	175.43	537.67
5	59	RJ Peterson	SA	225.72	116.47	192.06	534.24
6	68	T Shamsi	SA	227.91	115.01	167.70	510.62
7	71	J Botha	SA	219.79	113.50	162.82	496.12

NON WEAK TEAMS

DECADE OF MAT	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1970s	WI	ENG	AUS	NZ	PAK	SL	IND
1980s	WI	ENG	AUS	PAK	IND	NZ	SL	ZIM
1990s	SA	AUS	PAK	WI	IND	SL	ENG	NZ	ZIM
2000s	AUS	SA	SL	PAK	IND	NZ	ENG	WI	BAN
2010s	IND	SA	AUS	ENG	NZ	PAK	SL	BAN	WI
2020s	IND	NZ	AUS	PAK	SL	SA	BAN	ENG	AFG	WI