Fastest Balls in Cricket History
Shoaib Akhtar of Pakistan bowled the fastest ball in cricket history, measured at 161.3 km/h (100.23 mph) against England during the 2003 World Cup at Newlands, Cape Town. Brett Lee and Shaun Tait share second place at 161.1 km/h, while Mitchell Starc’s 160.4 km/h is the fastest delivery by a currently active international bowler. This guide ranks the fastest balls ever recorded, explains how they are measured, and looks at whether the record can ever be broken.
Fastest balls in cricket history: top 10 recorded deliveries
The table below ranks the fastest deliveries ever recorded in international cricket. Speeds from the 1970s come from earlier measurement systems and are less precise than modern radar readings, a caveat explained in detail below.
| Rank | Bowler | Country | Speed (km/h) | Speed (mph) | Opponent | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shoaib Akhtar | Pakistan | 161.3 | 100.23 | England | 2003 |
| 2 | Brett Lee | Australia | 161.1 | 100.14 | New Zealand | 2005 |
| 3 | Shaun Tait | Australia | 161.1 | 100.14 | England | 2010 |
| 4 | Jeff Thomson | Australia | 160.6 | 99.83 | West Indies | 1975 |
| 5 | Mitchell Starc | Australia | 160.4 | 99.57 | New Zealand | 2015 |
| 6 | Andy Roberts | West Indies | 159.5 | 99.12 | Australia | 1975 |
| 7 | Fidel Edwards | West Indies | 157.7 | 97.94 | South Africa | 2003 |
| 8 | Mitchell Johnson | Australia | 156.8 | 97.49 | England | 2013 |
| 9 | Shane Bond | New Zealand | 156.4 | 97.26 | India | 2003 |
| 10 | Mohammad Sami | Pakistan | 156.4 | 97.18 | Zimbabwe | 2003 |
Only five bowlers have ever been officially recorded above 160 km/h, and only three have done it with modern radar technology. That scarcity is the clearest sign of how extreme the record is.
Shoaib Akhtar and the 161.3 km/h delivery
Akhtar’s record ball came against England in the 2003 World Cup at Newlands, with Nick Knight on strike. It was the last ball of his second over, and it completed an over of extraordinary pace: his six deliveries were measured at 153.3, 158.4, 158.5, 157.4, 159.5 and 161.3 km/h, an over average of 158.06 km/h. The delivery was a dot ball, defended by Knight, and it made Akhtar the first bowler officially recorded past 100 mph.
Akhtar had previously been recorded at 161.0 km/h in April 2002, but that reading was widely questioned because of doubts about the equipment used. The 2003 delivery, measured by modern radar at a World Cup, carried no such doubt. It remains the fastest officially recorded ball in cricket more than two decades later.
What made Akhtar different was sustained pace rather than one freak delivery. He regularly bowled at 158 to 160 km/h through long spells, which forced batters to commit to shots earlier than they wanted. His career returns of 178 Test wickets and 247 ODI wickets reflect a bowler who paired that speed with genuine wicket-taking skill, even though injuries repeatedly interrupted his career.
Brett Lee, Shaun Tait and the 161 km/h club
Brett Lee’s 161.1 km/h delivery against New Zealand in 2005 came within 0.2 km/h of Akhtar’s record, and Shaun Tait matched that figure against England in 2010. Both bowlers had long spells of express pace, and both came closer to the record than anyone has since.
Lee was the more complete bowler of the two, taking more than 300 wickets in both Tests and ODIs while regularly bowling above 150 km/h. Tait was the more extreme case: a slingy, high-effort action that produced astonishing pace but placed enormous strain on his body, cutting his international career short. Tait’s 157.7 km/h delivery for Rajasthan Royals in 2011 remains the fastest ball ever bowled in the IPL, a record that has stood for 15 years.
The gap between first and second is only 0.2 km/h, which is within the margin of measurement error for radar guns. In practical terms, Akhtar, Lee, and Tait all bowled at the same outer edge of human capability. Akhtar holds the record because his delivery was the one that crossed the line first and was measured cleanly.
Jeff Thomson, Andy Roberts and the pre-radar era
Jeff Thomson’s 160.6 km/h reading from 1975 and Andy Roberts’ 159.5 km/h from the same era come from measurement systems that predate modern radar guns. Early speed studies used high-speed cameras and timing gates rather than the Doppler radar used today, and the two methods do not always measure the same point of the ball’s flight.
That does not mean the 1970s figures are wrong. Thomson was widely regarded by the batters who faced him as the fastest bowler they had ever seen, and the available measurements support that reputation. But historians treat pre-radar figures as estimates with wider error bars than modern readings. When comparing across eras, the honest approach is to present the 1970s numbers with that caveat rather than treating them as exactly equivalent to a modern radar measurement.
Roberts deserves a separate mention because he combined pace with intelligence. He was the leader of the West Indies pace attack that dominated world cricket for two decades, and his speed forced batters onto the back foot before his variations did the rest. His 159.5 km/h reading captures only the raw pace; his real value lay in how he used it.
Mitchell Starc and the modern pace standard
Mitchell Starc’s 160.4 km/h delivery against New Zealand in 2015 is the fastest ball ever recorded by a bowler still playing international cricket in the modern era. Starc has maintained speeds of 145 to 152 km/h across a long career while taking more than 400 Test wickets, a balance of pace and longevity that no other bowler on this list matched.
The modern list behind Starc includes Mark Wood of England, who regularly bowls above 150 km/h in Test cricket, and a new generation of Indian pacers led by Mayank Yadav and Umran Malik. Umran Malik has been recorded at 157.0 km/h in the IPL, and Mayank Yadav at 156.7 km/h. Both are genuine 150-plus bowlers, and both represent the most realistic current threat to the record if they can stay fit and develop the consistency that Akhtar, Lee, and Starc showed.
How bowling speeds are measured
Modern bowling speeds are measured with Doppler radar guns positioned behind the bowler’s arm or near the sightscreen. The gun tracks the ball as it leaves the hand and reports the speed at release, which is the fastest point of the delivery. Hawk-Eye and similar tracking systems also record speed, using camera-based triangulation rather than radar.
Two details confuse many fans. First, the ball slows by roughly 10 to 15 km/h between release and the batter because of air resistance, so the speed at the bat is considerably lower than the published figure. Second, different broadcasts and leagues use different equipment, so a 150 km/h reading in one competition may not be exactly comparable to a 150 km/h reading in another. Within a single tournament, however, the readings are consistent enough to rank bowlers reliably.
The speed gun also explains why the fastest deliveries usually come in short bursts. Bowling at 155 km/h or above places extreme loads on the back, knees, ankles, hamstrings, and shoulders. Fast bowlers therefore mix their quickest balls with slower balls, cutters, and controlled lengths, reserving maximum effort for the deliveries that matter most.
Why 160 km/h is so hard to reach
Bowling at 160 km/h requires a chain of forces to line up almost perfectly. The run-up generates momentum, the front leg braces to transfer that momentum upward, the hips and shoulders rotate in sequence, and the arm whips through with a late wrist snap. A small flaw at any stage costs several kilometres per hour.
Reaction time explains why such pace is so dangerous. A ball released at 160 km/h takes roughly 0.4 seconds to reach the batter, and the batter must decide on a shot in the first fraction of that time. At that speed, a batter is effectively playing the ball on anticipation and muscle memory rather than sight, which is why even the best batters look rushed against genuine express pace.
Biomechanics researchers have suggested that speeds around 161 km/h may be close to the practical limit of the human bowling action under cricket’s laws, which require a straight arm. That theory fits the evidence: the record has stood since 2003, and no bowler since has beaten it despite better training, nutrition, and sports science.
Will Akhtar’s record ever be broken
The record has survived more than two decades of challenges, which makes it one of the most durable marks in cricket. Lee and Tait came within 0.2 km/h, Starc within 0.9 km/h, and no one since has come within 3 km/h of it in international cricket.
The most likely challengers are young bowlers with clean, repeatable actions and the physical durability to sustain extreme pace. Mayank Yadav and Umran Malik have the raw speed, and the IPL gives them regular exposure to high-pressure bowling. But raw speed alone is not enough: Akhtar’s record required a perfect delivery on the biggest stage, measured by reliable equipment, in a match that mattered. Breaking it will require the same combination of talent, timing, and luck.
For the IPL-specific speed record, the fastest bowler in IPL page tracks the league’s own pace marks, while the broader IPL records page covers the league’s bowling landmarks through the completed 2026 season.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who bowled the fastest ball in cricket history?
Shoaib Akhtar of Pakistan bowled the fastest recorded ball, 161.3 km/h (100.23 mph), against England in the 2003 World Cup at Newlands, Cape Town.
What is the fastest ball in mph?
Akhtar’s 161.3 km/h converts to 100.23 mph, making him the first bowler officially recorded past 100 mph in international cricket.
Who is the fastest active bowler in cricket?
Mitchell Starc holds the fastest delivery by a modern-era international bowler at 160.4 km/h, recorded against New Zealand in 2015. Mark Wood of England is the fastest active Test bowler on a regular basis.
Has any Indian bowler bowled at 160 km/h?
No Indian bowler has been officially recorded at 160 km/h. Umran Malik’s 157.0 km/h in the IPL is the fastest delivery by an Indian bowler.
Why are 1970s speed figures treated with caution?
Pre-radar measurements used high-speed cameras and timing gates rather than modern Doppler radar, so they carry wider error margins. Jeff Thomson’s 160.6 km/h is widely accepted as genuine, but it is not directly comparable to a modern radar reading.
How fast does a 160 km/h ball reach the batter?
A ball released at 160 km/h takes roughly 0.4 seconds to travel the length of the pitch, and it slows by about 10 to 15 km/h through the air before reaching the batter.