In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded as a notable achievement. As of August 2025, 176 cricketers have taken a five-wicket haul on their debut in a Test match, with 11 of them being taken by New Zealand cricketers. They have taken a five-wicket haul on debut against six different opponents: three times against England, twice each against Pakistan, South Africa and Zimbabwe, and once each against India and Sri Lanka. Of the nine occasions, New Zealand won the match four times, drew three times, and lost twice. 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.
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. Cresswell, Alex Moir and Colin de Grandhomme are the only bowlers to have taken six wickets each on debut. Eight other players have taken five wickets on their Test debut. 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. Zak Foulkes accumulated 9 wickets for 75 runs in the match, the best bowling figures by a New Zealander in a Test match on debut. De Grandhomme and Ajaz Patel are the only players to get the man of the match award on their Test debuts. 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; he scored 105 runs and took 5 wickets for 86 runs. Paul Wiseman's five-wicket haul is the most economical, with 1.75 runs per over, and Foulkes has the best strike rate. As of August 2025, the most recent Zealand cricketer to achieve this feat was Foulkes. Moir, Wiseman and Patel are the only spin bowlers to achieve this feat, the others being fast bowlers.
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 bowlersNo.BowlerDateGroundAgainstInnOversRunsWktsEconBatsmenResult 1 The Oval, London Len Hutton Reg Simpson Bill Edrich Denis Compton Freddie Brown Doug Wright Drawn 2 Lancaster Park, Christchurch Len Hutton Reg Simpson Godfrey Evans Alec Bedser Roy Tattersall Brian Statham Drawn 3 Eden Gardens, Calcutta Farokh Engineer Chandu Borde Bapu Nadkarni Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan Drawn 4 R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo Sanath Jayasuriya Marvan Atapattu Mahela Jayawardene Niroshan Bandaratilleke Malinga Bandara Won 5 Centurion Park, Centurion Jacques Kallis Ashwell Prince AB de Villiers Mark Boucher Paul Harris Lost 6 McLean Park, Napier Michael Vaughan Andrew Strauss Kevin Pietersen Stuart Broad Ryan Sidebottom Lost 7 Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo Vusi Sibanda Hamilton Masakadza Regis Chakabva Njabulo Ncube Ray Price Won 8 Hagley Oval, Christchurch Azhar Ali Babar Azam Younis Khan Asad Shafiq Sohail Khan Rahat Ali Won 9 Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi Imam-ul-Haq Sarfraz Ahmed Bilal Asif Hasan Ali Azhar Ali Won 10 Seddon Park, Hamilton Raynard van Tonder Neil Brand David Bedingham Shaun von Berg Dane Piedt Won 11 Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo Sikandar Raza Tafadzwa Tsiga Vincent Masekesa Trevor Gwandu Blessing Muzarabani Won
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