England’s Test captain Ben Stokes made a massive prediction about speedster Mark Wood saying that he is capable of breaking the 100mph barrier.
Wood, 34, is considered one of the fastest bowlers in the world and he continues to prove it. Bowling his first over in the second Test, the right-armer bowled a fiery 93.9 mph (151.1 kmph) ball to West Indies’ opener Mikyle Louis. The Windies opener got no time to settle as he was, once again, beaten by a 96.1 mph (154.65 kmph) delivery.
Wood’s remaining deliveries were 95.2 mph (152.88 kmph) and 92.2 mph (148.06 kmph), 96.5 mph (155.30 kmph) Yorker and 95.2 mph (153.20).
However, that was not the end of Wood’s fiery spell as the Windies batters continued their struggle against his pace. The 34-year-old’s second over went as follows: 95 mph (152 kmph), 93 mph (149.66 kmph), 95 mph (152 kmph), 96 mph (154.49), 97.1 mph (156.26 kmph) and 94 mph (151.27 kmph).
Wood’s fastest bowl was recorded at 97.73mph and only three bowlers — Shoaib Akhter, Brett Lee and Shaun Tait — have crossed the 100mph barrier in the history of the game.
“He’s got it in the tank,” said Stokes about Wood breaking the 100mph barrier. “He’s been close a couple of times. Maybe one day."
The fastest Test ball Wood has ever bowled clocked at 156.6 kmph which came against Pakistan in Multan Test in 2022. The right-armer also bowled the quickest delivery of the T20 World Cup 2022 which England won under the leadership of Jos Buttler.
It is worth mentioning that England have an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series after beating the visitors by 241 runs in Nottingham. They secured an innings and 114 runs victory in the opening Test of the series, which was also the farewell match of veteran James Anderson at Lord's.
Playing XIs for third Test
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Mark Wood, Shoaib Bashir.
West Indies: Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Mikyle Louis, Kirk McKenzie, Alick Athanaze, Kavem Hodge, Jason Holder, Joshua Da Silva (wk), Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Shamar Joseph, Jayden Seales
- Mark Wood
