'Serious pace' - Speed gun shows Hasan Ali delivery clocked at 219 kph, leaves Twitter bemused

The event was understandably down to a technological malfunction.

By Pratyay Tiwari

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Hasan Ali
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Hasan Ali. (Photo Source: Twitter)

An inadvertent technical error from a bowling speed gun amusingly made Hasan Ali surpass Shoaib Akhtar’s two-decade-old record for the fastest delivery bowled in cricket history by many miles.

Akhtar clocked 161.3 km/h on 22nd February 2003 during the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup against England, a record that stands intact to this day, while Ali’s second delivery against Bangladesh in Dhaka during the series opener of the three-T20I series was shown to be delivered at a whopping 219 km/h, leaving plenty bemused. However, it is understood that it was down to a malfunction of the speed gun.

Both Pakistan and Bangladesh played their first game after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup, where they endured contrasting campaigns. Pakistan won each one of their five Super12 fixtures to breeze in to the semi-finals, where they were knocked out by eventual champions Australia, while Bangladesh, who had to first play the qualifiers to gain entry into the main draw, lost all five of their group-stage fixtures to crash out of the tournament in the most forgettable manner.

That losing streak, meanwhile, has swollen to six after Pakistan defeated them by four wickets at Shere Bangla National Stadium on November 19, chasing down the 128-run target with four balls to spare. Bangladesh had dominated both Australia and New Zealand at home before the T20 World Cup and were expected to extend their home dominance, but a lacklustre batting effort after opting to bat first meant they could only reach 127/7 on the back of thirties from Afif Hossain (36 off 34) and Mahedi Hasan (30 off 20) alongside Nurul Hassan’s 28 off 22.

Pakistan stuttered themselves during the chase – they were reduced to 24/4 with the entire top-order uprooted inside the powerplay; however, chasing a below-par target gave both Fakhar Zaman (36-ball 34) and Khushdil Shah (35-ball 34) the license to repair the damage at their own sweet pace, before a few lusty blows from Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz helped Pakistan gain a 1-0 lead.

Hasan Ali might not have managed to displace Akhtar’s record but gained his lost touch with a Player of the Match performance (3/22). “Pleasant moment for me to win this award. My performance wasn’t up to the mark in the T20 World Cup. As a professional player, ups and downs will come. I have been here in BPL. Normally it’s a slow pitch, as much as you can bowl into the stumps with variations, you’ll find success,” he said after his team’s victory.

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