Kamal Ghorui
New Zealand domestic cricketer Brett Randell created history on Sunday by becoming the first player in 254 years of first-class cricket to take five wickets in five consecutive deliveries. The remarkable spell came while playing for Central Districts against Northern Districts in a Plunket Shield match at McLean Park.Randell’s incredible burst came early in Northern Districts’ innings. He first bowled Henry Cooper with the last ball of his second over. In his next over, he dismissed former New Zealand Test opener Jeet Raval and then continued the destruction with three more wickets from the next three deliveries.
The fifth wicket in the sequence — which sealed the historic record — came when international all-rounder Kristian Clarke was bowled.Watch Brett Randell taking five wickets in five balls:According to records from the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians, no player had previously achieved five wickets in five balls in first-class cricket since the earliest recorded match in 1772.Randell did not stop there. The 30-year-old seamer went on to take two more wickets in his next over, finishing with outstanding figures of 7 for 25 — the best performance of his nine-year first-class career. His devastating spell helped bowl Northern Districts out for just 82 runs, after Central Districts had posted 373 in their first innings.While the achievement is unique in first-class cricket, Ireland international Curtis Campher had taken five wickets in five balls in a professional T20 match last year. Randell’s feat, however, is the first of its kind in the long history of first-class cricket.
