Has Sri Lanka found Malinga 2.0 in this new sensation? Watch video

Sri Lanka U-19 team didn’t have the ideal start to the U-19 Cricket World Cup 2020 as they lost their opening match against India U-19 by 90 runs. Sri Lanka team didn’t have a lot to take away from their bowling effort as they had conceded 297 from 50 overs.

But, there was one particular ball from the 17-year old Matheesha Pathirana which would be remembered for some time. There was nothing too good about the delivery as it was wide but the speed of the delivery was an unbelievable 175 Km per hour.

17-year old Matheesha Pathirana breaks Shoaib Akhtar’s record

The fastest ball recorded was bowled by the Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar at the 2003 Cricket World Cup against England. That ball clocked 161.3 kmph. This clearly makes the delivery by Matheesha Pathirana the fastest ever ball in cricketing history by quite some distance.

During India’s innings, Pathirana, the new sling sensation, bowled a ball to Yashasvi Jaiswal which went down the leg-side and was called a wide. It was the last ball of the fourth over. Here’s a clip of the delivery.

The speed of the ball is clearly displayed as 175 Kmph which is 108 in mph. At the senior level international cricket, the list of the fastest ball in the recorded history also has famous names like Brett Lee and Shaun Tait. Both the Australian bowler had clocked 161.1 kmph.

Malinga 2.0? Here’s a video of Pathirana’s yorkers

Now that you have seen the video of the young bowler from Sri Lanka, it is obvious you might have felt that his action is similar to someone. Yes, it is none other than Lasith Malinga.

The Sri Lankan legend is the hero of the 17-year old Matheesha Pathirana. Like his idol, Pathirana also bowls with a slingy action and has the ability to nail the yorkers. In a college match in September 2019, playing for Trinity College, the young bowler took six wickets by conceding only seven runs and came to the limelight after this performance. Here is a video of that spell:

Trinity College Kandy produces another Slinga !!

17 Year old Matheesha Pathirana took 6 wickets for 7 Runs on his debut game for Trinity !! #lka pic.twitter.com/q5hrI0Gl68

— Nibraz Ramzan (@nibraz88cricket) September 26, 2019

Even after his fast-bowling exploits, Matheesha Pathirana ended up conceding 49 runs from his eight overs against India U-19 at the World Cup opener.

But, the record for the fastest ball ever recorded in the history of cricket, for now, stays with the young pacer. There has been no official update from ICC confirming the accuracy of the recorded speed of the ball.