Dublin [Ireland], July 10 : Ireland all-rounder Curtis Campher made history, becoming the first-ever player to take five wickets in five balls in all of men's professional cricket on Thursday.
Campher achieved this accomplishment while playing for Munster Reds against North-West Warriors in the Inter-Provincial T20 Trophy. He secured figures of 5/16 in 2.3 overs.
Campher took all five wickets in his second and third over as Warriors sank from 87/5 to 88 all out in their run-chase of 189 runs. Jared Wilson was the first of the five, out on the second-to-last delivery of the 12th over, and on the next ball, he removed Graham Hume by trapping him leg-before-wicket with a brilliant inswinger on the pads, as per ESPN.
At the start of his next over, the 14th one, Campher was on a hat-trick, securing the wicket of Andy McBrine, who miscued a slog towards deep midwicket. The number 10 Robbie Millar, poking at an outside off-stump ball and number 11 Josh Wilson continued Campher's hot-streak, landing him a well-deserved hat-trick and five wickets in five successive balls.
Campher, who has already achieved four wickets in four balls in T20Is, is not the first player to achieve this feat, as Zimbabwe's women's player Kelis Ndhlovu had done the same for Zimbabwe U19 against Eagles Women in the domestic T20 tournament in 2024.
In 61 T20Is for Ireland, Campher has scored 924 runs at an average of 21.00, with a strike rate of over 125.37 and three fifties in 52 innings. He has also taken 31 wickets in 61 matches at an average of 34.16, with best figures of 4/25.