The quality, speed, and intensity of women’s cricket have improved exponentially in the past few years. However, up until recently, female bowlers were yet to breach the 130kph mark ever since speed guns became a regular feature in cricket tournaments across the globe in 1999.
While there was a high possibility that a few former Australian speedsters like Sharon Tredrea and Cathryn Fitzpatrick might have crossed the 130kph barrier in previous decades, a lack of concrete data means there’s no hard evidence available that points to the same.
Sharon Tredrea, in fact, was regarded as one of the fastest women bowlers during her playing days in the 1970s and 1980s.
There were also mentions of her clocking speeds of 133kph, however, as already alluded to a lack of concrete evidence means that there was no way of knowing this for sure.
In the years that followed, breaching the hallowed 130kph mark became a new frontier in women’s game as there weren’t many players who seemed capable of doing so.
All that has now changed though thanks to the new generation of women’s cricketers who seem like they aren’t just capable of breaking the 130kph mark but also can do so on a consistent basis.
Fastest ball in women’s cricket
From the data available, Australian speedster Ellyse Perry has bowled the fastest ball in women’s cricket after she became the first female cricketer to breach the magical 130-kph mark in a T20 match.
She broke the 130kph barrier at the Women’s Indian T20 League by clocking in with a delivery at 130.5kph for Team Bangalore against Team UP in Match 2023.
The Aussie bowler delivered the fastest ball in women’s cricket in the 16th over of the first innings of the game against Team UP. After already dismissing Deepti Sharma and Grace Harris within the first three balls of the 16th over, Perry clocked in at 130.5kph in the fifth ball of the over.
Perry, in fact, bowled with great rhythm in Match 13 of the Women’s Indian T20 League for Team Bangalore, finishing with figures of 3/16. Besides Deepti Sharma and Grace Harris, she also removed Shweta Sehrawat as Team Bangalore won the match by five wickets.
South African veteran Shabnim Ismail, rated as one of the meanest and quickest pacers in the world right now, was the previous holder of the record for bowling the fastest ball in women’s cricket.
Shabnim Ismail clocked 128kph (80 mph) in the 2023 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup semi-final match against England in Cape Town. She produced an inspiring performance in the match with the ball and helped South Africa qualify for their maiden ICC World Cup final.
Ismail consistently clocked above the 125kph mark in that match to claim the wickets of Sophia Dunkley, Alice Capsey and Heather Knight and finished with the figures of 3/27 in four overs.
Lea Tahuhu of New Zealand and Shikha Pandey of India are among the other top bowlers in women’s cricket who bowl consistently around speeds of 122 to 126kph.
Photo Credit: Alamy
