Ireland National Cricket Team all-rounder Curtis Campher has created history with his unbelievable performance in the Inter-Provincial T20 Trophy on Thursday, July 10.
Curtis Campher has become the first man in the history of professional cricket to take five wickets in five balls, and he achieved this landmark during the match that was held at the Pembroke Cricket Club, Sandymount, Dublin.
Curtis Campher shocks cricket world, takes 5 wickets in 5 balls
The 26-year-old all-rounder Curtis Campher was born on April 20, 1999, in Johannesburg. He was raised in South Africa and played for the South African Under-19 team before moving to Ireland and joining their national cricket team.
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He is a premier all-rounder of the Ireland National Cricket Team and has played 7 Tests, 43 ODIs, and 61 T20Is in his international career so far.
Meanwhile, he achieved an unbelievable feat of taking five wickets in five balls while playing for Munster Reds against North-West Warriors in the Inter-Provincial T20 Trophy.
While defending 189 runs, Campher took his five wickets across his second and third overs to trigger a shocking collapse as the Warriors slumped from 87/5 to 88/10.
On the fifth ball of the 12th over, Curtis Campher castled Jared Wilson to open his account, and on the next ball, he dismissed Graham Hume LBW.
Campher returned to bowl the 14th over, and on the first delivery, he dismissed Andy McBrine to complete a sensational hat-trick. The all-rounder was not done yet as he dismissed Robbie Millar and Josh Wilson on the next two balls, and finished with 5 for 16 from 2.3 overs.
Notably, Campher is the first man to claim 5 wickets in 5 balls in professional cricket, but not the first cricketer because that record is held by Zimbabwe Women all-rounder Kelis Ndhlovu, who took five wickets in five balls for Zimbabwe U-19 against Eagles Women in the domestic T20 tournament in 2024.
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I just kind of stuck to my guns – Curtis Campher
Talking about his achievement after steering his team to a dominant 100-run victory, Campher said that he kept things simple and luckily kept getting wickets.
“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 real simple, and luckily it kind of went off,” Campher said after claiming 5 wickets in 5 balls, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
He was further asked whether he would have taken 6 wickets in 6 balls, if North-West Warriors had one more wicket left, to which he responded:
“No, I don’t think so. It is what it is. Take the rough with the smooth. Just happy to be out there in the sun.”
Performances aside, it has been really good just to be around the boys – Curtis Campher
Curtis Campher, who is also one of the few bowlers to take four wickets in four balls in T20Is, just recently made his comeback from a finger injury, and while about it, he said:
“Performances aside, it has been really good just to be around the boys. When you get injured, it’s a bit of a dark place, when you get into the gym and stuff like that.
“So it has been really nice, just been treated with the weather too. So I have been really enjoying myself and putting pressure on myself to do well and it has kind of made me work for the last little bit.”
