20 years ago today Shoaib bowled the ball that clicked the speed of 100.04 miles per hour (161 KMPH) in the match played against New Zealand in Lahore on 27 April 2002.
On this day he became the first bowler in the world to bowl at a speed of more than 100 miles. Shoaib Akhtar still holds the world record for bowling the fastest delivery.
In the year 2002, the New Zealand team came to Pakistan to play a three-match ODI series. The third and last match of this series was played at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Batting first, Pakistan scored 278 runs for 5 wickets in this match. Shoaib Malik 115, Mohammad Yousuf 53 and Inzamam-ul-Haq 35 were the top scores for the hosts.
The New Zealand team, which came out to chase down the target of 279 runs, was all out on the score of 212. Craig McMillan was the top scorer for the Kiwi team by scoring 38 runs. Apart from him, Chris Harris 37, Lou Vincent 32 and Matt Horne scored 28 runs. Kiwi batsmen could not do anything special in front of the excellent bowling of Pakistan. Shoaib Malik bowled excellently for the hosts and bagged 3 wickets.
In this match, Shoaib Akhtar bowled the fastest delivery to New Zealand batsman Craig McMillan at a speed of 100.04 miles (161 km) per hour. Macmillan was stunned to see it pass through. Shoaib became the first bowler in the world to bowl at a speed of more than 100 miles per hour in this match. Unfortunately, the ICC did not recognize this ball of Akhtar.
However, the world body of cricket also had a reason for this. The speed gun used in that match was not up to the ICC standard. This is the reason why this fast ball of Akhtar could not make a place in the ICC’s record book.
Shoaib Akhtar, popularly known as Rawalpindi Express, did not give up. A year later, in 2003, the Cricket World Cup was organized in South Africa. During a match played between Pakistan and England in Cape Town, Shoaib Akhtar’s speed was once again seen in the match at Newlands Ground. In this match, he bowled the ball to England batsman Nick Knight at a speed of 161.3 (100.2 miles) km per hour. It was the fastest ball ever in international cricket. This world record for the fastest ball in international cricket is still help to the name of Shoaib Akhtar.