Bloemfontein (South Africa): Sri Lanka might have lost against India by 90 runs in the ongoing U-19 World Cup here, but young pacer Matheesha Pathirana grabbed eyeballs as he bowled a wide delivery to Yashasvi Jaiswal, which was recorded at '175kph' (108mph) initially.
Later, it turned out that there was an error in the recording. The speed-gun initially recorded the extraordinary 175kph pace of the delivery as it zoomed past Jaiswal and thudded into the wicketkeeper's gloves.
The fastest ever recorded delivery in international cricket was bowled by former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar (161.3kph) against England in the 2003 World Cup.
India kicked off their U-19 World Cup campaign on a winning note as they beat Sri Lanka at the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein on Sunday.
Put into bat, India put up 297/4 on the back of fifties from Yashasvi Jaiswal, skipper Priyam Garg and Dhruv Jurel.
Jaiswal and Divyaansh Saxena added 66 runs for the opening wicket before the latter got out for 23. N Tilak Varma then joined forces with Jaiswal and the two added 56 runs for the second wicket before Jaiswal, after scoring 59 off 74 balls, was dismissed.
Tilak Varma and skipper Garg then stitched India's third successive fifty-plus partnership. While the former missed out on a half-century, Garg completed his fifty before being dismissed by Kavindu Nadeeshan for 56.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Jurel, who scored an unbeaten 52, though made sure that India got close to the 300-run mark.
Sri Lanka were shot out for 207 in their chase. India will next face Japan on Tuesday.
Earlier, Pathirana, with an action similar to veteran Sri Lanka pacer Lasith Malinga, took social media by storm as he impressed with the ball for his domestic side in September.
Pathirana (17) of Kandy's Trinity College had figures of 6/7 on his debut for the domestic side.
What caught the eye was the teenager's action which is similar to Malinga.
(IANS)