Sixteen speedsters have bowled deliveries measuring between 150.7 kmph and 156.22 kmph 100 times in the Indian Premier League (IPL) since its inception in 2008, with Delhi Capitals' (DC) Anrich Nortje bowling the fastest ball in the tournament history on Wednesday against Rajasthan Royals (RR). The official IPL website, www.iplt20.com, displays only the top 100 instances when speed merchants have exceeded 150.7 kmph. South African Nortje exceeded 150 kmph mark four times in an over on Wednesday, with his fastest ball being clocked 156.2 kmph. Apart from Nortje, the other 15 bowlers who qualify for this list are: Dale Steyn, Kasigo Rabada, Pat Cummins, Shaun Tait, Jofra Archer, Navdeep Saini, Lasith Malinga, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Billy Stanlake, Ishant Sharma, Morne Morkel, Mitchell Johnson, Parvinder Awana, and Veer Pratap Singh.

Nortje set the speed guns spinning during his fiery opening spell against RR at the Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday. Such was the pace he generated in his first two overs of the day that he relegated Steyn's eight-year old record for fastest ball (154.40 kmph) to number four on the list, taking the top three spots for himself in three consecutive deliveries. Nortje sent in the fifth ball of his first over at 156.22 kmph, thus surpassing the 154.40 kmph delivery that Steyn had bowled for Deccan Chargers in 2012 and thus becoming the fastest in the history of the tournament. While that was incredibly ramped fine for four by RR's Jos Buttler, the England batsman found himself castled on the next ball timed 155.1 kmph, the second fastest ball of all time in the IPL.