Xtra Time Web Desk: Famous English cricket writer Neville Cardus once wrote, “One of the great and glorious sights in cricket is a fast bowler in full flight and power.” It is indeed a great sight to see a fast bowler steaming in and hurling a cricket ball towards a batsman at a lightning speed. For any cricket romantic, fast bowling has always been an art. There have been some genuinely quick bowlers ranking from the likes of Jeff Thomson, Michael Holding and Andy Roberts who mastered the art of fast bowling.
A young fast bowler from Rawalpindi rocked the cricket world by unleashing the fastest delivery on this day in 2002. You guessed it right; Rawalpindi Express Shoaib Akhtar clocked the fastest ball bowled during the 3rd ODI against New Zealand at the Gaddafi stadium. The batsman facing Shoaib on that day was Kiwi batsman Craig McMillan. Shoaib became the first bowler in the history of the game to cme really close to breaking the 100mph barrier.
It was a very humid day in Lahore for the third and final one dayer between Pakistan and New Zealand. The hosts had already taken an unassailable lead 2-0 in the three match ODI series.
According to Abdul Majid Bhatti, senior cricket journalist who was present in the press box that day, “It was a very hot and humid day with the temperatures soaring as high as 44 degrees. He (Shoaib) was bowling very quick that day. Initially we did not realized it from the press box that Shoaib bowled the quickest delivery. It was only known to us once the TV replays showed it. The crowds also were not aware of the incident as in those days Gaddafi stadium did not have any electronic scoreboard.”
Batting first, Pakistan had posted a stiff target of 278 from their 50 overs for the visitors. Shoaib shared the new ball with Waqar Younis and gave some tough time to the Kiwi openers. As Younis was diligent with his line and length, the younger Akhtar bombarded the openers with ‘snaughter’, consistently bowling around 99 mph. Prior to that fastest delivery, Akhtar clocked 99.3 mph (159 kph). The next ball he bowled passed McMillan in the blink of an eye. It was the fastest delivery clocked by a fast bowler till then. There was a slight confusion about the actual speed though. Some say Shoaib clocked 99.9 mph (160.7 kph), while other says it was 100.04 mph (161 Kph), but the International Cricket Council has since refused to accept the fact as ‘cannon’. The explanation given by the International Cricket Council was that the speed gun used for the match was provided by one of the sponsors.
The Pakistan Cricket Board later released a statement reading : “According to the speed gun operated in the ground by a sponsor, Shoaib Akhtar bowled a delivery at a speed off 161 kph during the 3rd ODI between Pakistan and New Zealand at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.”
Two guns were installed at the Gaddafi Stadium – one by cricket’s global broadcaster TWI and the other by a local hi-tech firm Cybernet. Shoaib’s fastest delivery was clocked on the Cybernet device as the other one was reportedly out of order.
After ‘officially’ breaking the 100-mile mark, Shoaib was quoted by BBC, “It doesn’t matter to me whether somebody recognises the speed gun or not. For me, it’s satisfying that I have bowled the fastest-ever delivery.”
But the Rawalpindi Express did not have to wait for long to set the record for the fastest ball in the history of cricket, as he bowled a 161.3kmph delivery in a World Cup Group A match at Newlands Stadium, Cape Town on February 22, 2003.