Sri Lankan U19 bowler clockes highest recorded delivery speed against India!

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Image Courtesy: Island Cricket/ICC

Sri Lanka’s start of the 2020 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup happened to be a disappointing one. A brilliant U19 Team India dominated over the oppositions at the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein yesterday. However, a new record was created in the match. Say hello to the young Sri Lankan sensation Matheesha Pathirana, who has made history for bowling the fastest delivery ever in cricket with an astounding speed of 175 kph!

Image Courtesy: Island Cricket/ICC

Back in 2019, Matheesha Pathirana was all over the news. The 17 year old’s bowling style has an bizarre similarity to the legendary Lasith Malinga’s signature roundarm bowling, and Pathirana became famous for his 6 wicket haul on his debut for Trinity College in Kandy. The supporters had hailed him as a true successor of ‘Slinga’, who retired from ODI cricket last year.

In yesterday’s game, Pathirana was facing Yashasvi Jaiswal in the fourth over, and the Sri Lankan starlet’s final delivery of the over bounced way over the young Indian batsman’s shoulders, which was declared as a wide. However, the reading on the speedometer left everyone awe struck as it showed a speed of 175 kph.

Check out the delivery in the clip below, courtesy of Twitter user @imvinay_09.

 

Until Pathirana, the fastest delivery ever recorded in the history of the gentleman’s game was bowled by none other than the Pakistani legend Shoaib Akhtar. Nicknamed the ‘Rawalpindi Express’, Akhtar clocked a speed of 161.3 kph against England back in the 2003 Cricket World Cup.

However, Akhtar’s record has now been broken, and the cricketing fandom is expecting to see Pathirana enter the bigger stage.

The young Men in Blues squad secured a 90 run victory in the tournament opener. The Indian U19 put up a total of 297 for 4 wickets in the first innings. Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 59 from 75 balls with 8 fours. The skipper Priyam Garg had 56 runs to his name, while the wicket keeper batsman Dhruv Jurel had a half century knock while keeping his strike.

The Lions U19 failed to chase down the target against a brilliant Indian bowling youth. They were bowled out after scoring 207 runs, with Akash Singh, Siddhesh Veer and Ravi Bishnoi picking up 2 wickets each.

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