Cape Town - A lightning quick spell before tea has helped elevate Mitchell Starc into an elite band of fast bowlers clocked above the magical 160km/h mark.
Operating with the second new ball, Starc had already broken a chunk out of Black Caps captain Brendan McCullum's bat. It was in his next over however, the 88th of the innings, that Starc passed the magical barrier.
Bowling to a well set Ross Taylor, Starc zipped in a yorker on off stump which Taylor kept out fairly easily. It was the speed however, that got a number of commentators excited as the delivery was measured at 160.4km/h.
A video of the delivery can be viewed on the Cricket Australia website.
Starc now joins four other bowlers in the stratosphere of quick bowling.
They are Shoaib Akhtar (161.3km/h in 2003), Shaun Tait (161.1km/h in 2010), Brett Lee (161.1km/h in 2005) and Jeff Thomson (160.6Km/h in 1976).
The quickest delivery by a South African was delivered by Dale Steyn in an IPL encouter in 2010. The Phalaborwa Express was clocked at 156.2km/h.