A low-flying seagull was blamed for interfering with the speed gun on Friday when New Zealand's Neil Wagner bowled a ball clocked at 160 kilometres (99.4 miles) per hour - one of the quickest on record.

The surprise missile from Wagner, whose normal bowling speed is in the low 130s, lit up social media before the speed radar's operators said the reading may have been affected by a passing bird.

The left-arm seamer's ball came on a blustery day at Dunedin's University Oval when he was bowling to Sri Lanka's Dinesh Chandimal on day two of the first Test.

However, members of the television production team operating the speed radar said a bird had probably caused an inaccurate reading from one of two monitors at the ground.

The alternative reading was 133kph, more in keeping with Wagner's usual pace.

If Wagner did in fact send down a ball at 160kph, he would have been just a shade off Mitchell Stare's Test world record of 160.4, set last month in Perth.