Curtis Campher Stuns Cricket World with 5 Wickets in 5 Balls

Curtis Campher etched his name into the cricket history books with a sensational spell of fast bowling for Munster Reds in the Inter-Provincial T20 Trophy. The Ireland pacer became the first male cricketer in professional cricket to take five wickets in five consecutive deliveries.

Leading Munster Reds in their clash against North-West Warriors, Campher returned extraordinary figures of 5 for 16 in just 2.3 overs. What made the spell truly special was the way he dismantled the Warriors’ lower order in a matter of moments, reducing them from 87 for 5 to 88 all out in their chase of 189. The magical run began with the final delivery of the 12th over. Jared Wilson was the first to go — a sharp inswinger that cleaned him up, crashing into off stump. With momentum behind him, Campher then trapped Graham Hume lbw the very next ball with another late inswinger that thudded into the pads. 

Campher returned to bowl the 14th over and wasted no time in completing his hat-trick. Andy McBrine tried to slog him over midwicket but only managed to miscue the shot, offering a simple catch. That brought No. 10 Robbie Millar to the crease — and he lasted just one ball, nicking behind while trying to poke at a delivery outside off. By now, everyone was aware something special was unfolding. With four wickets in four balls, Campher steamed in for the fifth. Josh Wilson had no answer. The ball came around the wicket and shattered his stumps — five wickets in five balls, a moment of absolute cricketing magic. 

"Because of the change of overs, I wasn't really sure what was happening," Campher admitted afterward. "I just kind of stuck to my guns and kept it real simple and luckily it kind of went off." 

This stunning performance comes in just his second match after recovering from a finger injury that kept him out of Ireland’s white-ball series against the West Indies. In his comeback game earlier this week, Campher made an impact with the bat, smashing 57 off 35 balls but didn’t bowl. This time, he combined both — scoring 44 off 24 before creating chaos with the ball. 

While Campher is now the first male cricketer to pick five wickets in five balls in professional cricket, he isn’t the first overall. That honour belongs to Zimbabwe U-19 Women’s star Kelis Ndhlovu, who pulled off the same feat in a domestic T20 last year.