Anrich Nortje had just got his first five-wicket haul in T20 cricket. But until he walked off the park after his spell for Rotterdam Dockers in their ETPL 2026 match against Belfast Wolves, and was asked about it in an on-field interview, he didn't know it.
That stat might surprise many. Nortje has, after all, played 173 games in the format, and has been in demand across the world, playing for South Africa of course, but also, in just the past two years, in four major franchise leagues: the IPL, the SA20, the CPL and MLC. He is also a fast bowler, one of the fastest in the world.
In this particular game, he bowled at an average speed of 142kph. And that's after 21 of his deliveries were cutters. The next-fastest bowler on show was Jai Moondra: his average bowling speed was 127kph. Nortje bowled 15 dot balls and took 5 for 11 in his four-over spell.
Captain Faf du Plessis had given Moondra the new ball ahead of Nortje. The game had begun late because of a drizzle, and in overcast conditions, Moondra's medium-pace was effective, the ball seaming in both directions. At the end of four overs, the Wolves were at 33 for 0.
Then Nortje came on and he just sent it in quick. He went short and outside off, inviting Tim Tector to take him on. And when you are a batter facing high pace, your reaction has to be instinctive. He pulled. It had been in the high 140s and, almost inevitably, the bat came down late. Faf du Plessis gobbled up the chance at mid-off.
Nortje was playing just his second game after a four-month layoff because of an injury. In the meantime, the moustache appeared to have grown thicker and the hair cropped shorter. And there was a distinct change to the way he gripped the ball.
"[The change in technique is] something I recently started now, in the off-season," he said on the broadcast. Most fast bowlers keep their middle and index fingers upright, gripping the seam, as they sprint in. Here, Nortje consistently ran in with his thumb turned upwards. The seam, as well as his middle and index fingers, were tilted to the right instead.
"It's to try and reduce a bit of rotation [while the bowling arm is coming up]," he said. "I've been purposefully trying to do it, and it just feels a lot more comfortable." Instead of rotating his wrist late in his run-up, he has eliminated the need for that movement.
Did this newly minted action deceive Devon Conway too? Conway was in a happy place, battling seam movement, on 41 off 28 - and fresh off a Test century in Nottingham last month. Still, in the ninth over, he rushed into a pull shot as well, holing out near deep fine leg.
The next ball, Nortje introduced more prominent seam movement by altering his grip again. A full delivery rocketed away from Lorcan Tucker's drive, and took the outside edge through to the keeper.
When Nortje came back on to finish his spell in the 17th over, with batters looking to go big, he combined his high pace with a canny bluff. He set the field for the short ball, pushed Glenn Maxwell deep in the crease, then castled him with a length delivery.
Just three balls later, du Plessis made the call for Nortje. He sent Moondra to a very fine deep third. Nortje almost breached the 150kph barrier with a short ball, and Harry Manenti went for the ramp out of instinct. Moondra took the catch.
Wolves could only reach an under-par 156 for 9 at the end of it all, but the drizzle got heavier and forced a washout, which had always seemed likely.
More than the five-for, Nortje must be pleased that he got to bowl first - Maxwell won the toss and batted - and test his new grip. Thumb pointing up, seam to the side: he might just have become even more effective.
