Speedometer glitch leads to England's Lauren Bell clocking a 173 kph delivery against India

India and England kick-started the much-awaited T20I series on Saturday, September 10 at the Riverside Ground in Durham. The rain and weather conditions caused a delay in the start of play, but that did not affect the game overall as a complete 20-over game was played. England dominated the play entirely, from the very beginning but one thing that got everyone talking was Lauren Bell’s delivery from the first over.

Lauren Bell made her T20I debut in the first game against India, and was given the new ball to start the proceedings. While bowling to her Southern Brave teammate Smriti Mandhana in the first over, the speedometer showed her delivery clocked at 107mph. The fastest delivery in cricket was bowled by Pakistan’s veteran pacer Shoaib Akhtar who had clocked the ball at 100mph.

The speedometer showed an incorrect reading, which got the cricketing world talking. The incident happened not just once, but multiple times. In the same over, the speedometer had earlier marked the reading at 101mph and the ball was then hit for a boundary by Mandhana. The second ball of the first over also read 107 mph.

Dominant England hand India an upsetting loss in series opener

Speaking of how the game panned out, English players put up a dominant show against India even after missing the services of some of their key players - Heather Knight, Katherine Brunt, and Natalie Sciver. The team, under Amy Jones’ captaincy looked in trouble initially when they opted to bowl first, but they showcased some fine performance and went on to win the contest.

India started off well, thanks to some power-hitting by Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma, but India’s tryst with collapses continued. After losing the first wicket, the batting lineup came crashing down, and India could manage to score mere 132 runs in their 20-over quota. Had all-rounder Deepti Sharma not hit the boundaries towards the end, India would not have crossed the 130-run mark.

It was an easy target for the batters, and Sophia Dunkley and Danni Wyatt started the chase for England. Dunkley survived a scare after Renuka Thakur’s ball, which accounted for her dismissal very early in the game, was declared a no-ball. The duo played a very confident game, and they made the chase look like a piece of cake. The English top-order finished off the chase within 13 overs and took a 1-0 lead in the series.

The glitch in the speedometer got Twitter talking immediately.

Lauren Bell bowling absolute rockets for @englandcricket on IT20 debut…@SkyCricket pic.twitter.com/Ap1hucKn1x

— Ant Weeks (@weetbix20) September 10, 2022

Lauren Bell has just clocked 100mph twice in the first four balls of the opening over. That speed gun is way off @SkyCricket #ENGwvINDw

— Ritabrata Maitra (@RitabrataMaitra) September 10, 2022

Bloody hell Lauren bell has put on a yard of pace #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/eqEHBqQp7d

— Joshua Blake (@JoshuaB05750397) September 10, 2022

Erm, I could be wrong, sky sports, but I don't *think* Lauren Bell is bowling at 107mph somehow.

— Dr Kate Cook (@KatExe) September 10, 2022

If you believe Sky Sports, Lauren Bell just bowled comfortably the fastest ball ever - 107mph #ENGvIND

— Tony Bosworth (@tonybosworth) September 10, 2022

Lauren Bell was bowling thunderbolts earlier pic.twitter.com/MG3srbanlo

— Paul Wilson 💙 (@paulthesitter) September 10, 2022

Women's sport is so under appreciated. Here's Lauren Bell breaking the record for the fastest delivery ever recorded in history and Mandhana plays it like it's nothing. No fuss. #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/jjvqo4w1sg

— Imran Escőbar (@razor5edge) September 11, 2022