Nagarkoti clocks 149kph scorcher in threewicket haul versus Australia
NEWDELHI: There used to be a time when thoughts of Indian bowlers clocking 145 kph mark, or 90 mph, was seen as fanciful. However, current India pace bowlers have shown that they are capable of really fast deliveries.
At the ICC U-19 world Cup opening league clash between India and Australia at the Bay Oval, Maunganui in New Zealand, 18-year-old Kamlesh Nagarkoti, an India pacer from Rajasthan, bowled consistently in excess of 145 kph with one express delivery touching 149 kph. After two solid overs from Nagarkoti, the 15th over of Australia’s chase changed the complexion of the match.
After bowling the first ball at 144 kph, Nagarkoti got Max Bryant with a 144 kph delivery. The last ball was clocked at 147 kph.
Nagarkoti, back in the 35th over, bowled three deliveries at 143, 145 and 145 and got the wicket of Austin Waugh, son of former Australia skipper Steve Waugh.
Nagarkoti cleaned up Will Sutherland, the son of Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland, with a 145 kph thunderbolt. Nagarkoti found out he had produced a scorching 149 kph delivery off the fourth ball of his sixth over, 37th of Australia’s innings.
“In England in a televised game, someone told me it was 143 kph. Today, I was told it’s 149,” cricket website wisdenindia quoted Nagarkoti as saying.
EVENLY POISED
India still trail South Africa by 152 runs, but Ishant feels the Test is finely balanced. “It was a pretty even day. We bowled them out pretty easily (335); on this kind of a wicket, it was a good effort by the bowlers. At 170/5, it was a pretty even day for both the teams.”
Both camps have been taken aback by the way the Supersport Park pitch has behaved, playing rather slow, and a far cry from the pitch for the first Test in Cape Town. “We expected there would be bounce on the wicket. First day the wicket was quite slow, slow as in it was two-paced,” said Ishant. “On such wickets, you have to be very disciplined, so we did that. After tea (on Day 1), the run out (of Amla) by Hardik was a game changer for us.”
‘NO CENTURION PITCH’ Ngidi, the local player, agreed a typical Centurion pitch would have more bounce. “Seeing how the wickets fell is a good representation of how it is not a (usual) Centurion pitch,” he said.
“Usually at Centurion, the wickets are caught behind. The slips come into play a lot, and that hasn’t happened, which tells you then and there it’s not a typical Centurion pitch. I still think our bowlers have done pretty well on it. We’ve hit the wicket pretty hard and been able to get a bit of carry. All in all, it’s not what we were thinking we were going to get, but it’s what we’ve got.”
Asked what the way out was on such a difficult pitch for the bowlers, Ngidi stressed on the need to stay patient. “We’ve hit that fifth stump line over and over again and wait for the batsman to make a play. There have been a few balls where it has held up in the wicket, so there are catches around the bat. Those are the methods we are looking at,” he said.