Cricket: Kiwi Brett Randell makes history with five wickets in five balls for Central Districts

Central Districts bowler Brett Randell has created history in the Plunket Shield by taking five wickets in five balls on day two of their clash with Northern Districts in Napier.

Randell started the damage with the final ball of his second over, before taking four in four to begin his third – earning a so-called triple hat-trick.

The Northern Districts batters were able to see off the next two balls, before Randell returned for his fourth over, where he took two more. At one point, he had figures of seven wickets for four runs.

He is the first cricketer to take five in five in a domestic first-class match, with the feat previously being achieved by Zimbabwe’s Kelis Ndhlovu in a domestic Under-19 Twenty20 match in 2024, while Ireland international Curtis Campher did the same during an Interprovincial T20 Trophy game last July in Dublin.

Randell becomes the eighth player for the Stags to take a first-class hat-trick in 75 years of the Plunket Shield, joining Gary Bartlett, Matt Toynbee, Peter Visser, Tim Anderson, Mitch McClenaghan, Kieran Noema-Barnett and Blair Tickner in the record books.

In Randell’s 37 previous first-class matches, the 30-year-old had only claimed more than five wickets in an innings on two occasions.

Central Districts started the day at McLean Park on 347/8 before eventually being bowled out for 373.

In reply, Northern Districts got off to a bad start when Randell dismissed Henry Cooper with the last ball of his second over.

He returned for his next over to first claim the scalp of former Black Caps opener Jeet Raval before claiming his hat-trick when he had Joe Carter caught behind.

Carter was shaking his head profusely, indicating he didn’t hit the ball before eventually departing.

Randell then got Robbie O’Donnell caught out in the slips before Kristian Clarke became the fifth victim, clipping the ball, which bounced before hitting the stumps.

Randall’s next two balls didn’t having much luck, but in his fourth over, he claimed the wickets of Ben Pomare and Scott Kuggeleijn.

Northern Districts were eventually bowled out for 82.