Bristol, May 17: The cricket World Cup was still buzzing today over the sizzling debut of Pakistan's paceman Shoaib Akhtar.The 23-year-old, dubbed the ``100-miles-per-hour man'' - although he has yet to find an extra yard of pace to break that mark - lived up to the hype instantly against the West Indies at Bristol yesterday.His first ball, pitching just short of a length, was so fast that Sherwin Campbell, with barely a third of a second to react, was late on his attempted hook.The rearing ball took the right-hander's top edge and soared over the slips, then over third man, for six.Six balls later and the Rawalpindi tearaway beat Campbell for pace again. His bat was still coming down as his stumps exploded behind him.Campbell delayed a few seconds before trudging off, a perplexed expression on his face.Akhtar, however, did not have things all his own way. His 9.5 overs earned him two wickets but also cost him 54 runs, making him the team's most expensive bowler.He delivers the ball at such express speed that when the batsman does connect with the full face of the bat, a boundary is on the cards. One square cut by Jimmy Adams hit the boundary boards before the in-fielders could blink. Yesterday's man-of-the-match award went to Azhar Mahmood for his three wickets. West Indian pace bowler Courtney Walsh, Akhtar's senior by 13 years and on the brink of becoming Test cricket's greatest wicket-taker, compiled a fine spell to take three wickets for 28 off 10 overs.But it was Akhtar who hogged the headlines. ``Shoaib speed gives Akram the armoury'', wrote The Daily Express newspaper. ``Akhtar is the show-stopper'', said The Sun. He simply took the breath away. Ask Campbell.
