Top 10 Fastest Ball in Women's Cricket (Updated 2025)

Cricket over the years has changed; nowadays, the game has shifted more towards the batters. Women’s cricket has gained immense success in recent years. The women cricketers for their respective nations have gained fame and have been in the limelight in this time of globalization and social media. Some of the cricketers have huge fan followings as well. In some countries, the respective boards even pay an equal amount of pay for men’s and women’s cricketers.

Most of the famous cricketers are batters. Some women cricketers are also famous as bowlers. Bowling has been a lot more difficult part of the game; it takes a lot of hard work and pain-bearing ability to become a bowler. In women's cricket, fast bowling dynamics have changed over the last few decades. Due to the physical difficulties of fast bowling, most bowlers in the early years of the women's game focused on medium-pace and spin bowling. In this article, we dive into the bowlers to deliver the fastest ball in women's cricket.

List of Fastest Ball in Women's Cricket - Updated

Men’s cricket has seen some serious pace from the likes of Malcolm Marshall to Shoaib Akhtar. Nowadays, women’s cricket also has bowlers who are not as fast as they are, but bowl at a pace that is difficult for the batters to play. The likes of Cathryn Fritzpatrick to Jhulan Goswami, these speedsters have made a name for themselves with their fast bowling, with utmost accuracy. Below we have listed the top 10 fastest ball in women's cricket.

Who has the Fastest Ball in Women's Cricket History?

Shabnim Ismail remains one of the fastest bowlers in women’s cricket. The South African speedster has the record of delivering the fastest ball in women's cricket. She will be ranked top in the fastest ball in women's cricket. Shabnim Ismail bowled the fastest ball of 132.1 kph playing for Mumbai Indians in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) against Delhi Capitals. Apart from her, numerous bowlers have bowled some of the fastest ball in women's cricket.

10. Jhulan Goswami | India | 120.0kph

Jhulan Goswami has been the finest pace bowler for India women’s cricket. She has been the inspiration for all. The 'Chakdah Express' is known for its pace, accuracy and swing bowling. She nearly clocked the 120kph across formats for India. This remains her fastest ball in women's cricket. Jhulan is the leading wicket-taker in international cricket in women’s cricket.

Jhulan Goswami has picked 255 wickets in her ODI career and has been the leading wicket-taker with 42 wickets to her name. This showcases her legacy and how she inspired the upcoming women cricketers to become fast bowlers in India. She has now retired from all forms of cricket and acts as the bowling coach for Mumbai Indians in WPL.

9. Jahanara Alam | Bangladesh | 122.0kph

Jahanara Alam plays for the Bangladesh women's national cricket team. She won a silver medal in cricket against China at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. Jahanara Alam has the record for bowling one of the fastest ball in women's cricket. She clocked 122kph in a game, which remains her top speed and the fastest ball in women's cricket.

She has been a decent bowler for the Bangla Tigers and has picked up only 103 wickets in the limited-overs format. The all-rounder was recently named in the T20 World Cup squad for Bangladesh. She continues to clock nearly 120+kph and has been the key to success for the national side in international cricket. Jahanara was also part of the Women’s T20 Challenge League in India, which was later replaced by WPL.

8. Lea Tahuhu | New Zealand | 126.0kph

Lea Tahuhu, the fast bowler from New Zealand, is the leading wicket-taker for the Kiwis in the 50-over format. She has picked 115 wickets for the Black Caps in 97 ODI matches, bowling over 126+ kph. She has the record for one of the fastest ball bowled in women's cricket. She bowled at a speed of 126 kph in a match.

Lea was also named in the ICC T20I team of the Year for her exceptional performances in the shortest format of the game. She is the third-highest wicket-taker for New Zealand in T20I cricket; she ranks after Sophie Devine and Amelia Kerr. The fast bowler has picked 97 wickets with an average of 19.79, which is fantastic in a T20 game.

7. Darcie Brown | Australia | 126.7kph

Darcie Brown is a young fast bowler hailing from Australia. She has been one of the finds for the Kangaroos. Coming from the South Australian region, the 22-year-old speedster features for the Adelaide Strikers in the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL). She has clocked over 125kph and has been listed in the fastest ball in women's cricket history for clocking 126.7kph in a game.

In February 2021, Brown was picked for Australia's limited-overs team for a series against New Zealand. She made her Women's Twenty20 International (WT20I) debut for Australia against New Zealand on March 30, 2021. She is still regarded as a promising young player in Australian women's cricket due to her fast bowling and remarkable accuracy. This is the reason she has been listed in the top 10 fastest ball bowled in women's cricket.

6. Shabnim Ismail | South Africa | 128.0kph

Shabnim Ismail has been a legendary figure in world cricket. The South African pacer remains the best fast bowler in world cricket at the moment. Her sheer speed and accuracy make her one of the most fearsome bowlers. She has been bowling over 127kph, which is a massive thing in women's cricket. She bowled 128.0kph in a game against England in the World Cup. Among the top 10 list, she has been listed 4 times for the highest speed ball in women's cricket.

Shabnim Ismail has been listed 9th in the list of the most wickets in the WT20Is with 123 wickets in 113 games and has been ranked 2nd in WODIs with 191 wickets in her career so far. She remains the best bowler for any franchise and leagues she features in, and also for the Rainbow Nation across formats. She has already announced her international retirement in 2023.

5. Shabnim Ismail | South Africa | 128.0 kph

Shabnim Ismail once again clocked the 128.0kph in a game, this time it was against the West Indies in 2016. She remains one of the fastest bowler in women's cricket history. She created some nightmares for the West Indian batters in that game and finished the series with seven wickets at an average of under nine. She finished the game with a figure of 1/22 in four overs. This helped South Africa to pull off a 2-1 series win.

Shabnim now continues to play franchise cricket as she has already retired from the international stage a couple of years ago.

4. Shabnim Ismail | South Africa | 128.3kph

Shabnim Ismail once again has been in the list of the fastest ball in women's cricket history. She bowled this time 128.3kph in the WPL 2024 for the Mumbai Indians. In the game against the Delhi Capitals, the legendary Proteas speedster recorded a delivery at a fearsome 128.3 kph in Bengaluru. Ismail also bowled a fiery spell, finishing with excellent figures of 1/24 in four overs, which has been a fantastic figure in T20I cricket, given the kind of pitches made in the limited-overs format.

3. Ellyse Perry | Australia | 130.5kph

Ellyse Perry has been one of the most famous Australian cricketers. She has been the only Australian women's cricketer to play for the national football team. Perry has been a fantastic fast bowler for the Kangaroos; she clocked 130.00kph in the WPL in 2023. This was the first time any bowler in WPL achieved this record. This remains the third highest speed ball in women's cricket.

Perry has helped RCB to win the WPL in 2023. She was exceptional in that season and was the highest run-getter in the competition. She continues to clock over 127.00kph in international cricket and has been she is the youngest Australian to play international cricket and the first to appear in both ICC and FIFA World Cups.

2. Cathryn Fitzpatrick | Australia | 132.0kph

Cathryn Fitzpatrick was a former Australian pacer. Throughout her career, she was regarded as the world's fastest female bowler, being the first woman to take 100 One Day International wickets. From 1991 to 2007, she played 13 Tests, 109 One Day Internationals, and two Twenty20 Internationals for Australia. Fitzpatrick was inducted into the Australian and International Cricket Halls of Fame in 2019.

She has the record for the second fastest ball bowled in women's cricket. She reached a speed of 132.00 kph during a game. This was the first time that any bowler clocked 132 before Shabnim Ismail broke this record in the WPL 2024. Fitzpatrick has taken 180 wickets, which is the third most by a women's cricketer in history.

1. Shabnim Ismail | South Africa | 132.1kph

Shabnim Ismail has the record for the fastest ball in women's cricket. She achieved this milestone in the WPL 2024. The Proteas pacer clocked an incredible 132.1 kph delivery to Delhi skipper Meg Lanning, and it got struck on the pad, with the Mumbai players appealing for an LBW, which was turned down. This showcases her ability to bowl fast and accurately. In this game, despite having a record, she conceded 46 runs in her four overs, and the match was lost by Mumbai Indians by 29 runs.