5 quickest Balls bowled in cricket
Watching a fast bowler running in and bowling at a tearaway pace is one of the most beautiful things in cricket. There have been few fast bowlers in the history of cricket who have provided a lot of entertainment to fans through their antics on the cricket field.
It often happens that a young bowler starts off as a genuine fast bowler, but, then in pursuit of accuracy he sacrifices pace. Having said that, there have been few fast bowlers who refused to let go of their pace and tormented batsmen throughout the world.
There have been lot of bowlers who have bowled at a speed of more than 150 km/hr, but, seldom anybody breaches 160 km/hr mark.
Let's take a look at five instances when the quickest bowls were bowled in cricket.
#1 161.3 km/hr: Shoaib Akhtar (2003)
Shoaib Akhtar, one of the quickest bowlers who have played the game, never sacrificed his pace for line and length. He was a tearaway fast bowler who got many wickets through sheer pace. It was a sight to behold when he bowled Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid off successive deliveries at Eden Gardens in 1999.
He bowled the quickest delivery ever recorded on a cricket field against England at Newlands in 2003. It was bowled at a lightning speed of 161.3 km/hr.
#2 161.1 km/hr: Shaun Tait (2010)
Shaun Tait, an out and out fast bowler was someone who never quite fulfilled his promise. He was quick but often wayward. At one point in time he was hailed as the next big thing in Australian cricket and to be fair, he got many opportunities to prove himself, but he often ended up wasting those opportunities.
Tait ended up playing just 3 Tests and 35 ODIs for Australia.
He bowled the second quickest delivery ever recorded on a cricket field against England at Lords in 2010. It was bowled at a superfast speed of 161.1 km/hr.