Bowlers are the pillars of a cricket team. Everyone knows that batsmen win you matches, but bowlers win you tournaments. Fast bowling itself is an art, and we have witnessed several fast bowlers in international Cricket. Fast bowlers tend to have qualities like swing and seam and one of the significant qualities is pace. If bowlers are bowling at a raw pace, then the opposition is terrorized through that. In this article, we are going to discuss the top 10 fastest deliveries in international cricket and will talk about bowlers who used speed as their primary plan against batsmen.
1. Shoaib Akhtar (161.3 km/h)
Shoaib Akhtar is known as the quickest bowler to play the game ever. He was also known as the Rawalpindi express and bowled the fastest delivery in the history of international cricket. Pakistan was playing a match against England in the 2003 World Cup where he bowled a delivery of 161.3 km per hour.
2. Brett Lee (161.1 km/h)
Former Australian ticketing legend is in the second position of bowling the fastest delivery in international cricket. Brett Lee was well known for his raw pace. His fastest delivery was 161.1 km per hour which he bowled against New Zealand back in 2005. He has taken an overall of 500 International wickets.
3. Shaun Tait (161.1 km/h)
Next in the line is another Australian fast bowler Shaun Tait. He is in the third place by bowling a delivery of 161.1 km per hour against England in a One-day International match. He was well known for his ODI performances, and he has taken nearly 62 wickets in his overall one-day international career.
4. Jeff Thomson (160.6 km/h)
Another Australian legend Jeff Thomson was incredibly known for his speed and pace. In 1975, while playing a match against West Indies, Jeff Thomson bowled a delivery of 160.6 km per hour. Jeff Thomson was known as the fastest bowler of that era, and batsmen were terrified while playing the fast deliveries of Thomson.
5. Mitchell Starc (160.4 km/h)
A list highly dominated by the Australian fast bowlers has Mitchell Starc at number 5 in the fastest deliveries bowled in international cricket. Australia was playing a match against New Zealand where Starc was bowling against Ross Taylor where he bowled a Yorker of 160.4 per hour.
6. Andy Roberts (159.5 km/h)
Formal West Indian fast bowler Andy Roberts has bowled the next fastest delivery in international cricket. Roberts was part of the legendary four-headed fast bowling attack of West Indies, and he was the fastest amongst all. The fastest delivery he bowled was against Australia in 1975, which was at 159.5 km per hour.
7. Fidel Edwards (157.7 km/h)
Edwards is one of the fastest bowlers in the present scenario. The West Indian pace bowler is known as one of the fastest bowlers in international cricket. He is known to bowl the second fastest delivery by a West Indian in International Cricket after Andy Roberts. In 2003 while playing a match against South Africa, he bowled the fastest delivery of 157.7 km per hour.
8. Mitchell Johnson (156.8 km/h)
Another Australian bowler on the list is Mitchell Johnson, who is also known as one of the fastest bowlers of all time. Australia was playing a match against England in Melbourne Cricket ground in 2013 where Mitchell Johnson bowled a delivery of 156.8 KM per hour. Batsmen tend to fear the pace in which Mitchell Johnson bowls on the Australian wickets.
9. Mohammad Sami (156.4 km/h)
Pakistani bowler Mohammad Sami is next in line for delivering the fastest ball in international cricket. Pakistan was playing a match against Zimbabwe in 2003 were he delivered a ball of 156.4 km per hour. Due to injuries, his career in international cricket didn’t continue and he was later dropped from the Pakistan side.
10. Shane Bond (156.4 km/h)
New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond is also well known for his pace and speed. During the 2003 World Cup, Bond bowled the fastest delivery of his career, which was 156.4 km per hour. Due to common injuries, his career was not that long, but he played very impactful cricket for the Kiwis.
