Brett Randell made history by taking five wickets in five consecutive balls during a Plunket Shield 2025–26 match between Central Districts cricket team and Northern Districts cricket team in Napier. The moment happened during Northern Districts’ innings.
Randell first dismissed Henry Cooper and then, in the next over, got the wickets of Jeet Raval, Joe Carter, Robert O’Donnell, and Kristian Clarke with four consecutive balls. This meant he took five wickets in just five deliveries, something that had never happened before in first-class cricket.
Because of his brilliant spell, Northern Districts were bowled out for only 82 runs in their first innings, giving Central Districts a huge 291-run lead. Watch the video here:
Five wickets in five balls for Central Districts' Brett Randell – the first-ever instance in first-class cricket! pic.twitter.com/7qdJ9JPSxx
— Rahul (@exceedingxpuns) March 8, 2026
According to ESPNcricinfo, Curtis Campher also has the record of taking five wickets in five consecutive balls, but this happened in T20 cricket. Kelis Ndhlovu from Zimbabwe has achieved the same feat in women’s T20 cricket.
As per Guinness World Records, players who have taken four wickets in four consecutive balls in international cricket for full-member teams include Lasith Malinga (twice for Sri Lanka), Rashid Khan, Jason Holder, and Curtis Campher.
“It felt unreal” – New Zealand pacer reacts after achieving rare feat in Plunket Shield
Brett Randell said he was thrilled after taking five wickets in five balls during a match in the Plunket Shield. He described the achievement as a “pinch-me” moment, saying (via ESPNcricinfo):
“I’m pretty blown away. The high was pretty crazy; it was like a pinch-me moment. 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 a lot 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’d talked about, and it came off. I had no idea that it was the first time it [five wickets in five balls in first-class cricket] had happened in the world; it’s seriously cool. I mean, I don’t really have any words at the moment, to be honest. I’ll take it.”
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