Incricket, afive-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer")[1][2] occurs when abowler takes five or morewickets in a singleinnings, commonly abbreviated as 5wI.[3] Taking five wickets is regarded as a notable achievement,[4] equivalent to acentury by abatter.[5] In 2001,Glenn McGrath invented the tradition of a bowler raising the ball to the crowd at the completion of a five-wicket haul.[6]
Taking a five-wicket haul atLord's earns the bowler a place on theLord's honours boards.[7]
As of 2025, only thirteen cricketers have taken a five-wicket haul in all three international formats of the game (Test cricket,One Day International andTwenty20 International):Sri Lanka'sAjantha Mendis andLasith Malinga,India'sBhuvneshwar Kumar, andKuldeep Yadav,New Zealand'sTim Southee,South Africa'sImran Tahir andLungi Ngidi,West Indies'Jason Holder andAlzarri Joseph,BangladeshiShakib Al Hasan,PakistaniUmar Gul andHasan Ali, andAfghanRashid Khan.[citation needed]
In 2018,Afghan cricketerMujeeb Zadran, aged 16, became the youngest bowler to take a five-wicket haul in an ODI.[8] In 2019, Pakistani cricketerNaseem Shah, also aged 16, became the youngest bowler to take a five-wicket haul in a Test match.[9] Afghan cricketerRashid Khan is the youngest bowler to take a five-wicket haul in a T20 international match; he was 18 at the time.[10]
Sri LankanMuttiah Muralitharan has taken the most five-wicket hauls inTest matches with 67,[11] and PakistaniWaqar Younis has taken the most five-wicket hauls inODIs with 13.[12] The record for most five-wicket hauls inT20Is is 4, which has been achieved by Bahraini cricketer Rizwan Butt.[13]
By scoring a century, taking five wickets in an innings or ten wickets in a match, a player ensures that their name is added to one of the famous Honours Boards in the Pavilion.
