Watch: Curtis Campher becomes first male cricketer to scalp five wickets in five balls

Curtis Campher created history by becoming the first men’s cricketer to secure five wickets in five deliveries on Thursday, July 10. The Irish all-rounder attained this rare feat while representing Munster Reds against North-West Warriors in the ongoing edition of the Inter-Provincial Twenty20 Trophy clash.

The five wickets were spread across two overs; two came in his second while the remaining three on the first three balls of his third over. Campher’s stellar five-wicket haul (5/16 in 2.3 overs) ended up in a dominant 100-run victory for the Reds.

Two of Curtis’ wickets were bowled, one was an LBW, and there were two dismissals which involved the wicketkeeper and the fielder at cow corner. Campher was rightfully awarded the Player of the Match accolade for his five-wicket haul in addition to his 44-run cameo which came off just 24 deliveries.

Although he became the first man to achieve the landmark in professional cricket, Campher is not the first cricketer overall. Zimbabwe women’s player Kelis Ndhlovu registered the record to her name while playing against Eagles Women in a domestic T20 match in 2024.

“Because of the change of overs, I wasn’t really sure what was happening. I just kind of stuck to my guns and kept it really simple – and luckily, it sort of came off,” shared Campher after the match during the post-match presentation ceremony.

Interestingly, this was not the first time Campher had did something like this with the ball. He had previously claimed four wickets in four balls for Ireland against the Netherlands during the 2021 T20 World Cup. With that, he entered a select group of bowlers to have done so at the international level.