List of New Zealand cricketers who have taken five-wicket hauls on Test debut

In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer")^[2][3] refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded as a notable achievement.^[4] As of May 2021, 159 cricketers have taken a five-wicket haul on their debut in a Test match,^[5] with nine of them being taken by New Zealand cricketers.^[6] They have taken a five-wicket haul on debut against six different opponents: three times against England, twice against Pakistan, and once against India, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe each.^[7] Of the nine occasions, New Zealand won the match four times, drew three times, and lost twice.^[8][9][10] The players have taken five-wicket hauls at nine different venues, including six outside New Zealand; the most recent was taken at Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi.^[11]

Tim Southee took a five-wicket haul on Test debut, against England in 2008.^[1]

The first New Zealand player to take a five-wicket haul on Test debut was Fen Cresswell who took six wickets for 168 runs against England in 1949.^[12][13] Cresswell, Alex Moir and Colin de Grandhomme are the only bowlers to have taken six wickets each on debut. Six other players have taken five wickets on their Test debut.^[6] De Grandhomme took six wickets for 41 runs, the best bowling figures by a New Zealand bowler in an innings on Test debut, against Pakistan in 2016, at Hagley Oval.^[6][14] He accumulated seven wickets for 64 runs in the match, the best bowling figures by a New Zealander in a Test match on debut.^[12] De Grandhomme and Ajaz Patel are the only players to get the man of the match award on their Test debuts.^[14][15] Amongst the bowlers, Bruce Taylor is the only player "to achieve the all-round feat" on his Test debut against India in 1964–65 at Eden Gardens, Calcutta; ^{[note 1]} he scored 105 runs and took 5 wickets for 86 runs.^[16] Paul Wiseman's five-wicket haul is the most economical, with 1.75 runs per over, and Tim Southee has the best strike rate.^{[note 2]} As of November 2018, the most recent Zealand cricketer to achieve this feat was Ajaz Patel.^[6] Moir, Wiseman and Patel are the only spin bowlers to achieve this feat, the others being fast bowlers.^[18][19]

Key

Symbol	Meaning
Date	Date the match was held, or starting date of the match for Test matches
Inn	The innings of the match in which the five-wicket haul was taken
Overs	Number of overs bowled in that innings
Runs	Runs conceded
Wkts	Number of wickets taken
Econ	Bowling economy rate (average runs per over)
Batsmen	The batsmen whose wickets were taken in the five-wicket haul
Result	The result for the New Zealand team in that match
†	Bowler selected as the man of the match

Five-wicket hauls

Five-wicket hauls on Test debut by New Zealand bowlers

No.	Bowler	Date	Ground	Against	Inn	Overs	Runs	Wkts	Econ	Batsmen	Result
1	Fen Cresswell	13 August 1949	The Oval, London	England	2	41.2	168	6	4.06	Len Hutton Reg Simpson Bill Edrich Denis Compton Freddie Brown Doug Wright	Drawn^[13]
2	Alex Moir	17 March 1951	Lancaster Park, Christchurch	England	2	56.3	155	6	2.74	Len Hutton Reg Simpson Godfrey Evans Alec Bedser Roy Tattersall Brian Statham	Drawn^[20]
3	Bruce Taylor	5 March 1965	Eden Gardens, Calcutta	India	2	23.5	86	5	3.60	Farokh Engineer Chandu Borde Bapu Nadkarni Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan	Drawn^[21]
4	Paul Wiseman	27 May 1998	R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo	Sri Lanka	4	46.5	82	5	1.75	Sanath Jayasuriya Marvan Atapattu Mahela Jayawardene Niroshan Bandaratilleke Malinga Bandara	Won^[22]
5	Mark Gillespie	16 November 2007	Centurion Park, Centurion	South Africa	2	30.0	136	5	4.53	Jacques Kallis Ashwell Prince AB de Villiers Mark Boucher Paul Harris	Lost^[23]
6	Tim Southee	22 March 2008	McLean Park, Napier	England	1	23.1	55	5	2.37	Michael Vaughan Andrew Strauss Kevin Pietersen Stuart Broad Ryan Sidebottom	Lost^[1]
7	Doug Bracewell	1 November 2011	Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo	Zimbabwe	4	25.0	85	5	3.40	Vusi Sibanda Hamilton Masakadza Regis Chakabva Njabulo Ncube Ray Price	Won^[24]
8	Colin de Grandhomme†	17 November 2016	Hagley Oval, Christchurch	Pakistan	1	15.5	41	6	2.68	Azhar Ali Babar Azam Younis Khan Asad Shafiq Sohail Khan Rahat Ali	Won^[14]
9	Ajaz Patel†	16 November 2018	Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi	Pakistan	4	23.4	59	5	2.49	Imam-ul-Haq Sarfraz Ahmed Bilal Asif Hasan Ali Azhar Ali	Won^[15]

References

Notes

1. Calcutta was renamed as Kolkata in 2001.
2. In cricket, strike rate is referred to the average number of deliveries bowled before a bowler takes a wicket.^[17]

Specific

1. "3rd Test: New Zealand v England at Napier, Mar 22–26, 2008". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
2. Buckle, Greg (30 April 2007). . Canberra Times. Archived from the original on 15 August 2008. Retrieved 18 November 2016. McGrath didn't get the five-for that he had hoped for...
3. "Swinging it for the Auld Enemy – An interview with Ryan Sidebottom". The Scotsman. 17 August 2008. Retrieved 18 November 2016. ... I'd rather take fifers (five wickets) for England ...
4. Pervez, M. A. (2001). A Dictionary of Cricket. Orient Blackswan. p. 31. ISBN 978-81-7370-184-9.
5. . ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
6. . ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
7. . ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 29 July 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
8. . ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 9 October 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
9. . ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 29 July 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
10. . ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 9 October 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
11. . ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
12. . ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 10 May 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
13. "4th Test: England v New Zealand at The Oval, Aug 13–16, 1949". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
14. "1st Test: New Zealand v Pakistan at Christchurch, Nov 17–21, 2016". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
15. "1st Test, New Zealand tour of United Arab Emirates at Abu Dhabi, Nov 16-19 2018". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
16. Menon, Mohandas (4 August 2016). . Wisden India. Archived from the original on 12 August 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
17. Williamson, Martin. "An explanation of cricket – A glossary of cricket terms". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
18. "Statistics / Statsguru / Test matches / Bowling records / Spin bowler". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
19. "Statistics / Statsguru / Test matches / Bowling records / Fast bowler". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
20. "1st Test: New Zealand v England at Christchurch, Mar 17–21, 1951". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
21. "2nd Test: India v New Zealand at Kolkata, Mar 5–8, 1965". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
22. "1st Test: Sri Lanka v New Zealand at Colombo (RPS), May 27–31, 1998". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
23. "2nd Test: South Africa v New Zealand at Centurion, Nov 16–18, 2007". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
24. "Only Test: Zimbabwe v New Zealand at Bulawayo, Nov 1–5, 2011". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 November 2016.