History made as New Zealand bowler takes five wickets in five balls

Napier, New Zealand — Brett Randell etched his name into the record books on the third morning of the Plunket Shield clash between Central Stags and Northern Districts, becoming the first cricketer in 254 years of first-class cricket to claim five wickets in five consecutive deliveries.

The 30-year-old seamer’s staggering burst formed part of a scarcely believable sequence in which he collected six wickets in eight balls, leaving Northern Districts in tatters at 82 all out in reply to Central Stags’ commanding 373. Randell finished with career-best figures of 7 for 25 from 11 overs.

The drama unfolded at McLean Park, where Randell’s relentless line and length proved unplayable. After drawing an edge to slip for the first dismissal, he trapped the next batter lbw, then watched a leading edge balloon to cover. A second lbw and another sharp catch completed the five-in-five sequence, prompting disbelief among players and a hushed, almost stunned, celebration from the bowler himself.

“I’m pretty blown away,” Randell said shortly after the innings ended. “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.”

Randell revealed he had tried to stay “level-headed” throughout the spell. “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, our Plan A that we had talked about, and it came off.”

While Ireland’s Curtis Campher and Zimbabwe Women’s Kelis Ndhlovu have each taken five wickets in five balls in T20 formats, Randell’s feat is the first of its kind in the longer form of the game. The milestone adds a luminous highlight to a career that already includes two County Championship appearances for Somerset during the 2024 English season.

Central Stags now hold a first-innings lead of 291, and Randell’s name will forever be associated with one of the rarest achievements in cricket lore.