Mark Wood on Friday (July 19) terrorised the West Indies batsmen with a ferocious opening spell on the second day of the ongoing second Test at Trent Bridge.
The right-hander broke his record for the fastest over bowled by an England player on home soil not once but twice. He first broke the record in his first over of the game when Ben Stokes introduced him into the attack to bowl the 10th over.
All six deliveries in that over were bowled at over 92mph. He started the over by bowling one at 93.9mph and then touched the 96.5mph mark during the same over. According to Sky Sports, it was the fastest over bowled by an English bowler at home since records began in 2006.
In his second over, Mark Wood did not bowl a single ball slower than 94 mph, while the fastest delivery was 95.1. And in his third over, the England star again broke the record for the fastest over. In that same over, he also bowled a delivery that was 97 mph (156.2 km/h).
It was the fifth ball of the 14th over when Wood was bowling towards West Indies opener Mikyle Louis. The England bowler bowled a short ball which rose sharply and Louis did well to let it go behind the stumps.
Watch Mark Wood’s speech:
Your chances of facing a Mark Wood goalie at 97.1 mph straight to your head are low, but never zero… image.twitter.com/sQN7TtB4rv
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 19, 2024
Talking about the game, West Indies were at 104 for 3 after 32 overs at the time of writing this report. Louis and Kraigg Brathwaite shared a 53-run stand for the first wicket before Shoaib Bashir broke the stand by dismissing the former for 21.
It was followed by a 25-run partnership between Brathwaite and Kirk McKenzie before both batsmen were dismissed in quick succession as England reduced West Indies to 84 for 3. Alick Athanaze and Kavem Hodge have managed to steady the ship for the visitors and would look to guide the team to a good score.
At the start of the match, England had amassed a total of 416 runs in their first innings thanks to Ollie Pope’s 121-run knock. Ben Duckett and Ben Stokes also scored half-centuries for the hosts. England are currently leading the three-match series thanks to their innings win in the first Test.