Five wickets in five balls for New Zealander Brett Randell as he makes first-class cricket history
"Pinch-me moment" for Brett Randell as he achieves first-class cricket first in New Zealand domestic game; 30-year-old bags six wickets in eight balls around his record-breaking five in five; Curtis Campher and Kelis Ndhlovu had previously taken five in five in T20 cricket
Sunday 8 March 2026 12:37, UK
New Zealander Brett Randell became the first player to take five wickets in five balls in first-class cricket during a remarkable bowling burst in a domestic match in his homeland.
The 30-year seam bowler claimed six wickets in eight deliveries all told as he starred for Central Stags against Northern Districts in a Plunket Shield clash in Napier.
Randell - who played two County Championship games for Somerset in 2024 - finished with figures of 7-25 from 11 overs as Northern Districts were rolled for 82 in reply to their opponents' 373.
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Ireland's Curtis Campher claimed five wickets in as many balls in a domestic T20 game last year, while Zimbabwe Women's Kelis Ndhlovu did likewise in an U19 T20 in 2024.
But Randell is the first to do in the 254-year history of first-class cricket.
He said afterwards: "I am pretty blown away. The high was pretty crazy, it was like a pinch-me moment. It's seriously cool, I don't really have any words at the moment, to be honest.
"I was trying to stay level-headed and keep putting the ball in the same area and then after the actual hat-trick, just the same things - trying to put the ball in the same area.
"It gets drummed into us that we don't want to go searching for wickets, so I was trying to just keep bowling the same ball, and our 'Plan A' that we had talked about, and it came off."
