Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav, known for his guile and deceiving batters in the air and off the pitch with his googlies, delivered a 117 kph thunderbolt in the second SA vs IND T20I at St George’s Park in Gqeberha today (December 12).

Bowling the fifth over the innings, Kuldeep had to pull out a quicker one on the the fifth ball of the over when he saw Reeza Hendricks advancing down the track. He pulled his length back, dropping it halfway into the pitch. However, instead of sitting up to be hit, the ball skid through really quick, almost deceiving Hendricks and going past him as he somehow managed to get his bat down in time.

The speed gun read 117 kph, much to the amazement of everyone watching.

This was not the first time that Kuldeep had bowled a quicker one this quick. In the IPL earlier this year, he had delivered another flatter one to Andre Russell while playing for Delhi Capitals. That ball was clocked at 117 kph as well.

Kuldeep Yadav bowled 117 kph against Russell. pic.twitter.com/dLFZgM3uZg

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) April 20, 2023

Kuldeep had also surprised New Zealand batter Daryl Mitchell with a sharp quicker one in the 2023 World Cup, clocking a speed of 113 kph.

 

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Chasing a revised target of 152 from 15 overs, South Africa had come out all guns blazing in the powerplay, racing off to 67-1 after five overs. They continued their assault, as their score read 116-2 after 10 overs.

Earlier in the game, Suryakumar Yadav (56 off 36 balls) and Rinku Singh (68 not out off 39) scored half-centuries to take India to a competitive total of 180-7 in 19.3 overs before rain cut their innings short by three deliveries.