Adjectives are often used out of place in sport but there are few other words other than sensational to describe Neil Wagner's ground-breaking cricket feat today.
Otago Volt's left-arm quick rewrote the record books by taking five wickets in one over as the southerners crushed Plunket Shield rivals the Wellington Firebirds by an innings and 138 runs inside three days in Queenstown.
His match haul of nine wickets also took him to a staggering tally of 51 wickets for the 10-round competition.
The South African-born bowler, who becomes eligible to play for New Zealand next year, was in devastating form with an unprecedented feat in a first-class match in any country during the over immediately before lunch on the third day of the four-day fixture.
Wellington began the over on 136 for four in pursuit of Otago's first innings of 441 for eight declared and they ended it in disarray at 136 for nine.
Wagner, 25, began his over by having opener Stewart Rhodes caught by Neil Broom for 77 then the rot really set in for the visitors as the next four batsmen were all bowled.
Joe Austin-Smellie was the first to register a first ball duck and he was promptly followed by Jeetan Patel and Illi Tugaga, before Mark Gillespie kept out the next delivery only to fall to the last ball of the over.
Wagner's removal of Tugaga marked just the 37th instance in the history of first-class cricket worldwide where a bowler had taken four wickets in four balls and his dismissal of Gillespie left him as the only player to take five wickets in one over.
He then returned after lunch to complete his demolition job as tailender Andy McKay became the fifth batsman bowled to end Wellington's innings at 148, after they had lost six wickets with the score on 136.
Wagner completed the innings with career-best figures of six for 36, lifting his season's haul to 48 wickets.
The previous best performance in an over by a bowler came in the summer of 1929-30 when Englishman Maurice Allom took four wickets in five balls against New Zealand during a test match at Lancaster Park in Christchurch.
Wagner's performance inspired Otago to a lop-sided win, ending Wellington's hopes of claiming the title in the 10th and final round.
Following on, the visitors were skittled for 155 in just 45 overs in their second innings, losing a total of 19 wickets as their season -- and coach Anthony Stuart's unsuccessful tenure -- ended meekly.
Elsewhere, the Central Stags have kept alive their hopes of winning the title after two declarations and forfeited innings in their rain-affected match against the Auckland Aces in Napier set up an intriguing final day tomorrow.
Auckland declared their first innings at 471 for four today, Andrew Boorder progressing through to 150 not out and Gareth Hopkins ending unbeaten on 64.
Central then declared their first innings at 5 for one while Auckland promptly forfeited their second dig, setting the home team 467 for victory.
They have made a good start in reaching 159 for two, with Mathew Sinclair resuming tomorrow on 38 and George Worker on 26.
Victory would take Central to 35 points, level with leaders Canterbury who could take net runs per wicket rate out of the equation with their own outright win on the final day against Northern Districts in Rangiora.
Resuming their first innings at 130 for three today, Canterbury moved through to 278 all out and gained a lead of 129 runs on the first innings before Northern reached 223 for five in their second innings, an overall lead 94 runs.
If Canterbury cannot force an outright result tomorrow and Central win, Canterbury could still claim the title as they boast a superior net runs per wicket rate of 5.23 to Central's 4.46.
NZPA
