Image: Facebook/Mudgeeraba Nerang & Districts CC

Gareth Morgan, the captain of the Mudgeeraba Nerang & Districts CC third-grade team, took six wickets in the final over of his side’s dramatic four-run win over Surfers Paradise CC at the Carrara Community Centre on Saturday.

In the Gold Coast’s Premier League Division 3 competition, Surfers needed five more runs for a win in the last over with six wickets in hand before chaos ensued with Morgan taking six wickets in six balls. Bowling the 40th over of the run chase, Morgan first removed opener Jake Garland for 65, caught by Ethan Wells. What followed was extraordinary, with five batters falling for golden ducks in succession.

Connor Matheson, Michael Curtin, Wade McDougall, Riley Eckersley and Brodie Phelan were dismissed off five consecutive balls, as Surfers collapsed from 174-4 to 174 all out. Morgan later revealed to the Gold Coast Bulletin that the on-field umpire for the game had manifested his record.

“It is funny, the umpire said to me at the start of the over that I needed to take a hat-trick or something to win the game,” Morgan told the Gold Coast Bulletin. “When it happened he just sort of looked at me.”

Morgan ended with 7-16 in his seven overs, having earlier top-scored for his side with 39.

His father Huw commented on the club’s Facebook page that Gareth had achieved a similar feat previously as well. “A proud father here. Gareth won’t tell you, but as a young bloke, he once took five wickets in an over! He didn’t get six, because there was only five wickets left at the start of the over.”

The loss left Surfers Paradise still searching for their first win of the season, while Mudgeeraba are second on the table.

The most number of wickets taken in an over in professional cricket is five, with three bowlers having achieved the feat: Neil Wagner for Otago in 2011 (first-class), Al-Amin Hossain for the UCB-BCB XI (T20) in 2013 and Abhimanyu Mithun for Karnataka in the 2019 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.