Sydeny November 07, 2022: We have already seen some of the fastest bowling in the history of the game at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, with lightning-quick deliveries hurrying the biggest names in world cricket on the lively Australian pitches.
All of the ten fastest balls of the tournament have been in excess of 153kph or 95mph, with Mark Wood setting the standard with sizzling bowling throughout the Super 12 stage.
Wood set a new record for the fastest spell in white-ball cricket history, averaging an eye-watering 149.02kph (92.6mph) across his four overs against Afghanistan, surpassing the previous record held by Fidel Edwards for West Indies back in 2009.
There are a host of big-name quick bowlers on show in Australia, with the likes of Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah Afridi of Pakistan, Mitchell Starc of Australia and Taskin Ahmed of Bangladesh among those capable of clocking serious speed.
But the only bowlers close to challenging Wood for the fastest of the tournament have been South African pace merchant Anrich Nortje and Lockie Ferguson of New Zealand
A blistering spell from the speedster had Bangladesh hopping about earlier in the tournament. But even a ball tracked at 154.311kph wasn’t enough to better Wood’s quickest.
The 10 fastest deliveries so far are below:
1. Mark Wood (England) v New Zealand – 154.74kph (96.15mph)
The fastest delivery of the tournament saw England’s strike bowler rocket in a full delivery that almost cut Glenn Phillips in half and could very easily have castled the in-form Kiwi. Instead, it found an inside edge that saw the ball squeeze just past the leg stump and race away for a boundary.
2. Lockie Ferguson (New Zealand) v Ireland – 154.55kph (96.03mph)
t was rapid from New Zealand’s enforcer throughout the match, and Ireland skipper Andrew Balbirnie did superbly to keep this in-swinging yorker out at such extreme pace, with the ball squirting to mid-off.
3. Mark Wood (England) v Afghanistan – 154.48kph (95.98mph)
Full, straight and express pace, the first ball of Wood’s second over of the match was only just dug out by Hazratullah Zazai.
4. Mark Wood (England) v Afghanistan – 154.48kph (95.98mph)
Straight into his stride, Wood followed up a wicket off his first delivery of the match with a turbo-charged second, whistling past the outside edge from back of a length. Sam Curran took the wickets, but Wood’s pace softened up the Afghanistani batters.
5. Anrich Nortje (South Africa) v Bangladesh – 154.31kph (95.88mph)
Nortje’s second over of the match against Bangladesh was rapid throughout. He picked up the wicket of Shakib with his fourth ball, and bowled his fastest delivery of the match with his last, striking the front pad with a missile. Afif Hossain survived as the ball had pitched outside leg.
6. Mark Wood (England) v Afghanistan – 154.07kph (95.73mph)
Back of a length and cramping the batter for room, Mark Wood’s fourth delivery was a dot ball in an over that went for just four runs.
The perils of bowling fast. Nortje banged in a bouncer that rose past Afif and kept on rising, disappearing over the head of the keeper and away for four byes.
8. Anrich Nortje (South Africa) v Netherlands – 153.38kph (95.30mph)
Wowzer, this was quick! Nortje opted to go full, straight and devastatingly fast, ripping off stump out of the ground with a scorcher that sent Bas de Leede packing.
9. Mark Wood (England) v New Zealand – 153.31kph (95.26mph)
Searching for a breakthrough, Wood angled a quick delivery in at Kane Williamson, but drifted fractionally onto the pads and was flicked away to the rope, with the pace on the ball giving the fielders little chance.
10. Mark Wood (England) v Sri Lanka – 153.17kph (95.17mph)
The final ball of the innings was a rip-snorter from Wood. Chamika Karunaratne backed away but couldn’t handle the pace as he was rushed into wildly edging a catch to Alex Hales in the deep.
