Shabnim Ismail bowls fastest recorded ball in women’s cricket

South African quick Shabnim Ismail has breached the 130kph barrier for the first time in women’s cricket since speeds have been recorded.

Ismail bowled a delivery that the speed-gun on broadcast recorded at 132.1kph in the WPL game between her side Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals on Tuesday in Delhi.

It was the second delivery of the third over in the game which Ismail bowled full to Capitals captain Meg Lanning, who missed the delivery and was hit on the front pad. Mumbai appealed for lbw, but it was turned down.

When asked at the end of the innings if she was aware of the fastest delivery she had bowled, Ismail said she doesn’t “look at the big screen when I am bowling.”

Ismail had also recorded a delivery at 128.3kph in the opening game of the tournament, also against Capitals. She, however, missed a couple of games for Mumbai with an injury and returned to action on Tuesday.

In international cricket too, the fastest delivery recorded is by Ismail, when she bowled one at 128kph against West Indies in 2016 and had breached the 127kph mark twice in the 2022 ODI World Cup.

Ismail was far from her best on Tuesday though. She opened the bowling once Mumbai chose to field and was erratic with her full deliveries and bowled on the pads.

After her first two overs went for 14 runs, Shafali Verma smacked her for consecutive sixes at the start of her third before Ismail had her caught behind for 28 and gave her an aggressive send-off. She finished with 1-46 from her four overs in the top-of-the-table clash.

Ismail, 35, retired from international cricket in May 2023, months after the home T20 World Cup to end a 16-year career. She played 241 international games for 317 wickets across formats, which included 127 ODIs, 113 T20Is and a Test. She is now a regular in T20 leagues around the world. (ESPNcricinfo)