Shoaib, Lee head pace race, confirm places as fastest
Wednesday, March 12 2003 17:02 Hrs (IST)

Johannesburg: Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar and Brett Lee of Australia have confirmed their places as the world's fastest bowlers by sending down the quickest deliveries at the World Cup.

According to official statistics released on Wednesday, they are the only two bowlers to have broken the 160kmh mark.

Shoaib's fastest delivery took the speed gun up to 161.3kmh in Pakistan's match against England, while Lee came close to matching his pace rival, also against England, where his top speed was clocked at 160.7kmh.

Third fastest bowler is New Zealand's Shane Bond whose quickest delivery of 153.4kmh was unleashed against Canada with West Indies' Jermaine Lawson just a fraction behind.

Fastest recorded deliveries by bowlers from each country:

Australia: Brett Lee 160.7kmh v England

Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza 139.5kmh v Canada

Canada:Davis Joseph 140.5kmh v Bangladesh

England:James Anderson 144kmh v Australia

Netherlands:Edger Schiferli 138.4kmh v Namibia

India:Ashish Nehra 149.7kmh v Zimbabwe

Kenya:Thomas Odoyo 135.1kmh v Bangladesh

Namibia:Gerrie Snyman 138.2kmh v Pakistan

New Zealand: Shane Bond 153.4kmh v Canada

Pakistan: Shoaib Akhtar 161.3kmh v England

South Africa:Makhaya Ntini 149.4kmh v Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka:Dilhara Fernando 147.9kmh v Bangladesh

West Indies:Jermaine Lawson 153.2kmh v Kenya

Zimbabwe: Andy Blignaut 145.6kmh v New Zealand

Copyright AFP 2001

Extras:
I would like to think that we are unbeatable, says Lee