T20 World Cup: Wood eyes more pace after record spell against Afghanistan

KARACHI: Mark Wood delivered a record spell in terms of speed against Afghanistan in their T20 World Cup 2022 opener on Saturday.

In England's victory over Afghanistan on Sunday, Wood bowled the fastest spell in T20 World Cup history. He also achieved 97 mph during a recent series in Pakistan.

It is difficult to acquire historical speed data, however, only Shoaib Akhtar, Shaun Tait, and Brett Lee have surpassed 100 mph.

"I don't think I'm in their bracket," responded Wood while speaking to BBC Sports. "Though I've got more consistently high pace than them. I feel in a great place at the minute so hopefully, I can keep that going."

Wood took 2-23 against Afghanistan with every ball in his spell being bowled over the speed of 140kph (86.9mph). In Perth, he reached a top speed of 92.6mph.

"I actually feel I have more in the tank than that. I struggled in my first couple of overs because I was slipping quite a bit. There was a lot of grass on the wicket and it was a bit tacky on top so I was sliding. The record is great to hear but I want to keep pushing the boundaries to get quicker and quicker," he added.

Around the turn of the century, speed guns started to be used more often, and since that time, no England bowler has ever been recorded bowling at a speed higher than Wood's 97 mph.

Pakistan's Akhtar became the first bowler to break 100mph mark, doing so against England in the 2003 World Cup. Prior to that Australia's Lee clocked 100.1mph against New Zealand in 2005 and his former team-mate Tait recorded the same speed during an ODI in 2010 against England.