Shabnim Ismail’s delivery – the first-ever by a women’s cricketer that breached the 130kph barrier – was the second ball of the third over of the match.
Shabnim Ismail, the former South Africa pacer, on Tuesday, broke the record for the fastest ball bowled in women’s cricket when she fired one in at 132.1 kph while playing a WPL 2024 match for Mumbai Indians against Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitely Stadium in New Delhi.
Mumbai Indians player Shabnim Ismail(Mumbai Indians-X)
Shabnim Ismail’s delivery – the first-ever by a women’s cricketer that breached the 130kph barrier – was the second ball of the third over of the match that struck DC captain Meg Lanning on the pads. MI went up in an appeal but was turned down by the umpire.
Hindustan Times – your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.
The ex-South African quick, who also held the record for the previous fastest ball – 128 kph against West Indies in 2016 and 127 kph – twice during the 2022 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, retired following last year’s T20 WC.
Ismail however did not have the greatest outings as he got walloped for 46 runs, including getting hit for three consecutive sixes by Shafali Verma in her third over. When asked if she was aware of the record, Ismail said she doesn’t actually “look at the big screen when bowling.”
DC go two points clear of MI in WPL points table
Lanning and Jemimah Rodrigues smashed commanding fifties as DC got the better of defending champions MI by 29 runs in a top-of-the-table clash.
Sent in to bat, Lanning fired at the top with a 38-ball 53, while Jemimah hit an entertaining 33-ball 69 to provide the late acceleration as DC racked up a massive 192 for 4 after the WPL juggernaut moved to the national capital amid a lukewarm response.
Mumbai Indians’ chase never took off, ending up with a 163 for 8 despite Amanjot Kaur’s 42 off 27 and Hayley Matthews’ 29 off 17 as the defending champions crashed to their second defeat in five matches and only second against DC in WPL history.
This was Delhi’s fourth win on the trot as they moved two points clear of Mumbai with eight points from five matches.
DC thus consolidated their position at the top with the win which will act like a balm for the home team, which had suffered a heartbreaking last-ball loss to the MI in the tournament opener.
