The Women’s Premier League has witnessed surreal moments during the passage of play – fielders taking mesmerizing catches or pulling off spectacular fielding efforts, batters smacking humongous sixes, bowlers taking key wickets in clutch moments, and so on. Overall, the women cricketers have been giving everything on the field and entertaining the fans in the best scene. During WPL 2024, a spectacular moment was witnessed when Shabnim Ismail hogged the limelight by bowling at a blistering pace.
She etched her name into the record books for bowling the fastest ball in Women’s Cricket history, a feat that she will be extremely proud of. The 35-year-old cricketer clocked 132.1 kph delivery as per the speed gun during the Women’s Premier League (WPL 2024) game against Delhi Capitals in Delhi on Tuesday. The fastest ball in women’s cricket history was witnessed during the second ball of the third over of the match.
Shabnim Ismail records the fastest delivery in women’s cricket history
Mumbai Indians Women cricketer Shabnim Ismail bowled the 132.1kph ball to Delhi Capitals captain Meg Lanning on the front pad as the team appealed in unison for a leg-before wicket. However, the on-field umpire turned down the appeal in the first place. For the record, she previously clocked a 128.3kph delivery in the tournament opener against Delhi Capitals at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
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However, in the recently-concluded game, she broke her previous record against the same opponent. At the post-match presentation, the woman cricketer was asked about her fast delivery but she downplayed it by saying that she doesn’t look at the big screen when she is bowling. The South African woman pacer also takes pride in the fact that she records the fastest ball bowled in international women’s cricket as she clocked 128kph against West Indies in 2016.
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She called it quits from international cricket in May last year after the conclusion of the 2023 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup tournament. Notably, she has been one of the successful South African pacers as she delivered the goods across formats, accounting for 317 dismissals in 241 games. The veteran cricketer is South Africa’s leading wicket-taker in Women’s T20I cricket history with 123 wickets whereas she is the second leading wicket-taker in Women’s ODIs with 191 wickets to her name.