Indian fans watching the T20I against England on August 10 night must have rubbed their eyes twice as debutant Lauren Bell bowled the first over of the match. The tall English pacer opened the bowling for England and her second delivery was clocked at a whopping 172 kmph. To the naked eye, the ball did not have much pace and it was surely a case of technical glitch.
As she continued her spell with the new ball, the deliveries she bowled clocked at 165 kmph, 157 kmph as well. The screenshots of the telecast and her bowling videos have since gone viral on social media.
This is not the first time technical glitches have led to unbelievable numbers showing up on screen due to speed gun malfunction. In the Under-19 World Cup 2022, a delivery bowled by Sri Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana clocked at 175 kmph. However, it was not the case.
Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar holds the record for fastest ball that was clocked at 161.3 kmph. Many have come close to breaking the record but no one has surpassed Akhtar.
Debutant Lauren started off well as she conceded just one boundary in the first over bowled to Indian opener Smriti Mandhana.
In her third over, she was hit for three boundaries. She returned to bowl the 15th over and conceded 18 runs. She bowled a total of three overs and conceded 25 runs. The 21-year-old could not get a wicket.
In the first T20I of the three-T20I series, India posted a total of 132/7 after Amy Jones won the toss and opted to field first. Sarah Glenn took four wickets for 23 runs and restricted India to a modest total.
England chased down the target easily in just 13 overs. Sophia Dunkley opened the innings with Danielle Wyatt and smashed 61 runs from 44 deliveries. Indian bowlers struggled in wet conditions and gave 17 extras including as many as 10 wides. Only Sneh Rana managed to take a wicket. The conditions upset Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur who said that they were forced to play which led to Radha Yadav getting injured.
