Indonesia’s fast bowler Gede Priandana wrote a small slice of cricket history in Bali on Tuesday, becoming the first player – man or woman – to collect five wickets in a single over in a T20 international. His late intervention shut the door on Cambodia, who were still faintly in the hunt at 106 for 5 after 15 overs, chasing 168.
Priandana, on for his first over of the night, removed Shah Abrar Hussain, Nirmaljit Singh and Chanthoeun Rathanak with his opening three deliveries. A dot ball followed. The right-armer then dismissed Mongdara Sok, conceded a wide, and knocked over Pel Vennak to end the contest. Cambodia were bowled out 60 runs short, having added just the solitary wide during that decisive six-ball passage.
Earlier, Priandana had scratched out 6 from 11 balls while opening, overshadowed by wicketkeeper-batter Dharma Kesuma’s unbeaten 110 from 68 deliveries – eight fours, six sixes – which carried Indonesia to 167 for 4.
Five wickets in an over has been seen twice before in men’s domestic T20s. Al-Amin Hossain achieved it for UCB-BCB XI in Bangladesh’s Victory Day Cup back in 2013-14, and Karnataka seamer Abhimanyu Mithun repeated the trick during the 2019-20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy semi-final. Until now, though, no bowler at international level had gone beyond the more familiar “four in four”, a feat most famously produced by Lasith Malinga against New Zealand in 2019.
It is worth stressing that official ball-by-ball data is key here; earlier matches without such records sit outside the statistical net. Even so, Priandana’s effort is likely to stand the test of time. A hat-trick is rare enough. Adding two more scalps – and doing it all in your only over – feels borderline surreal.
For Indonesia, the performance ticks two important boxes: a 1–0 lead in the series and further proof the side’s bowling bench has depth beyond the spin options that usually dominate at home. Cambodia, by contrast, will reflect on a chase that lost shape the moment Priandana hit the crease.
Imperfect as the match was in patches – wides, misfields, the odd muddled single – it delivered a genuine landmark. Those in the ground will probably say they sensed something was coming. The rest of us will settle for enjoying the highlight reel on loop.
