# List of South Africa cricketers who have taken five-wicket hauls on Test debut

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. A five-wicket haul on debut is regarded by the critics as a notable achievement. As of September 2024, 174 cricketers have taken a five-wicket haul on Test match debut, out of which twenty-five were from the South Africa national cricket team. The five-wicket hauls have come against six different opponents, and the South Africans have performed this feat fifteen times against England. Of the twenty-two matches where a South African debutant has taken a five-wicket haul, twelve have ended in defeat, six in victory and the other four in a draw. The five-wicket hauls were taken at eleven different venues, six of them being taken at the Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town.
Albert Rose-Innes was the first South African to take a five-wicket haul on Test cricket debut. He took 5 wickets for 43 runs against England in 1889. In the second Test of the series, Gobo Ashley took 7 wickets for 95 runs, in what turned out to be his only appearance in Test cricket. When the country was re-admitted to play competitive cricket in 1991, Lance Klusener became the first debutant to take a five-wicket haul. His 8 wickets for 64 runs against India in November 1996 remain the best bowling figures in an innings by a South African on debut. Sydney Burke and Alf Hall are the only South African debutants to collect 10 or more wickets in a match as of February 2015. Klusener's figures, along with George Bissett's 5 for 37 runs, were included among the "Top 100 Bowling performances of all time" by the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002. Neil Brand is the latest cricketer to achieve this feat; he took 6/119 against New Zealand in February 2024.

## Key

* Date – Starting date of the match
* 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 South African team in that match.
* † – The bowler was selected "Man of the match".
* ‡ – The bowler took 10 wickets or more in the match.

## Five-wicket hauls

Five-wicket hauls on Test debut by South African bowlers :
| No. | Bowler | Date | Ground | Against | Inn | Overs | Runs | Wkts | Econ | Batsmen | Result |
| 1 | Albert Rose-Innes | 12 March 1889 | Crusaders Ground, St George's Park, Port Elizabeth | England | 1 | 18.0 | 43 | 5 | 3.58 | Bobby Abel Frank Hearne Henry Wood Johnny Briggs Charles Coventry | Lost |
| 2 | Gobo Ashley | 25 March 1889 | Newlands, Cape Town | England | 1 | 43.1 | 95 | 7 | 3.29 | Bobby Abel George Ulyett Maurice Read Monty Bowden Basil Grieve Emile McMaster Arnold Fothergill | Lost |
| 3 | Bonnor Middleton | 13 February 1896 | Crusaders Ground, St George's Park, Port Elizabeth | England | 1 | 25.4 | 64 | 5 | 2.97 | Tom Hayward C. B. Fry Hugh Bromley-Davenport Lord Hawke Harry Butt | Lost |
| 4 | George Rowe | 2 March 1896 | Old Wanderers, Johannesburg | England | 1 | 49.0 | 115 | 5 | 2.81 | Tim O'Brien Tom Hayward C. B. Fry Hugh Bromley-Davenport Christopher Heseltine | Lost |
| 5 | Alf Hall ‡ | 1 January 1923 | Newlands, Cape Town | England | 2 | 37.3 | 63 | 7 | 1.68 | Andy Sandham Frank Woolley Phil Mead Arthur Carr Percy Fender Frank Mann Vallance Jupp | Lost |
| 6 | George Parker | 14 June 1924 | Edgbaston, Birmingham | England | 1 | 37.0 | 152 | 6 | 4.10 | Herbert Sutcliffe Frank Woolley Patsy Hendren Percy Chapman Maurice Tate George Wood | Lost |
| 7 | Henry Promnitz | 24 December 1927 | Old Wanderers, Johannesburg | England | 1 | 37.0 | 58 | 5 | 1.56 | Herbert Sutcliffe Bob Wyatt Greville Stevens Ewart Astill Rony Stanyforth | Lost |
| 8 | George Bissett | 31 December 1927 | Newlands, Cape Town | England | 1 | 17.0 | 37 | 5 | 2.17 | Percy Holmes Herbert Sutcliffe Ernest Tyldesley Greville Stevens Bob Wyatt | Lost |
| 9 | Sandy Bell | 29 June 1929 | Lord's, London | England | 1 | 30.4 | 99 | 6 | 3.22 | Herbert Sutcliffe Maurice Leyland Maurice Tate Walter Robins Harold Larwood Jack White | Drawn |
| 10 | Norman Gordon | 24 December 1938 | Old Wanderers, Johannesburg | England | 1 | 33.4 | 103 | 5 | 2.30 | Wally Hammond Les Ames Bryan Valentine Len Wilkinson Ken Farnes | Drawn |
| 11 | Lindsay Tuckett | 7 June 1947 | Trent Bridge, Nottingham | England | 1 | 37.0 | 68 | 5 | 1.83 | Cyril Washbrook Denis Compton Norman Yardley Sam Cook Jack Martin | Drawn |
| 12 | Cuan McCarthy | 16 December 1948 | Kingsmead, Durban | England | 2 | 12.0 | 43 | 6 | 2.68 | George Mann Denis Compton Allan Watkins Reg Simpson Godfrey Evans Roly Jenkins | Lost |
| 13 | Michael Melle | 10 February 1950 | Ellis Park, Johannesburg | Australia | 1 | 33.0 | 113 | 5 | 2.56 | Jack Moroney Keith Miller Ray Lindwall Sam Loxton Ian Johnson | Drawn |
| 14 | David Ironside | 24 December 1953 | Ellis Park, Johannesburg | New Zealand | 1 | 19.0 | 51 | 5 | 2.01 | Geoff Rabone Lawrie Miller Frank Mooney Tony MacGibbon Guy Overton | Won |
| 15 | Peter Heine | 23 June 1955 | Lord's, London | England | 1 | 25.0 | 60 | 5 | 2.40 | Tom Graveney Peter May Denis Compton Ken Barrington Godfrey Evans | Lost |
| 16 | Peter Pollock | 8 December 1961 | Kingsmead, Durban | New Zealand | 2 | 20.3 | 38 | 6 | 1.85 | John Guy Paul Barton Zin Harris John Reid Artie Dick Jack Alabaster | Won |
| 17 | Sydney Burke ‡ | 1 January 1962 | Newlands, Cape Town | New Zealand | 1 | 53.5 | 128 | 6 | 2.37 | Noel McGregor John Sparling Murray Chapple Artie Dick Gary Bartlett Dick Motz | Lost |
| 18 | Lance Klusener | 27 November 1996 | Eden Gardens, Calcutta | India | 2 | 19.0 | 64 | 8 | 1.73 | Nayan Mongia Sourav Ganguly V. V. S. Laxman Mohammad Azharuddin Sunil Joshi Anil Kumble Javagal Srinath Narendra Hirwani | Won |
| 19 | Charl Langeveldt | 2 January 2005 | Newlands, Cape Town | England | 1 | 16.0 | 46 | 5 | 2.87 | Michael Vaughan Graham Thorpe Geraint Jones Simon Jones Steve Harmison | Won |
| 20 | Vernon Philander † | 9 November 2011 | Newlands, Cape Town | Australia | 2 | 7.0 | 15 | 5 | 2.14 | Ricky Ponting Michael Clarke Brad Haddin Mitchell Johnson Shaun Marsh | Won |
| 21 | Marchant de Lange | 26 December 2011 | Kingsmead, Durban | Sri Lanka | 1 | 23.2 | 81 | 7 | 3.47 | Tharanga Paranavitana Kumar Sangakkara Thilan Samaraweera Angelo Mathews Thisara Perera Rangana Herath Chanaka Welegedara | Lost |
| 22 | Kyle Abbott † | 22 February 2013 | Centurion Park, Centurion | Pakistan | 1 | 11.4 | 29 | 7 | 2.48 | Mohammad Hafeez Younus Khan Misbah-ul-Haq Sarfraz Ahmed Saeed Ajmal Ehsan Adil Mohammad Irfan | Won |
| 23 | Lungi Ngidi † | 13 January 2017 | Centurion Park, Centurion | India | 2 | 12.2 | 39 | 6 | 3.16 | K. L. Rahul Virat Kohli Hardik Pandya Ravichandran Ashwin Mohammed Shami Jasprit Bumrah | Won |
| 24 | Beuran Hendricks | 24 January 2020 | Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg | England | 2 | 15.3 | 64 | 5 | 4.12 | Dom Sibley Ben Stokes Sam Curran Chris Woakes Joe Root | Lost |
| 25 | Neil Brand | 5 February 2024 | Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui | New Zealand | 1 | 26.0 | 119 | 6 | 4.58 | Daryl Mitchell Glenn Phillips Rachin Ravindra Mitchell Santner Matt Henry Tim Southee | Lost |