A charged-up Jofra Archer bowled in full rhythm in his comeback Test, helping England beat India by 22 runs for a famous win at Lord’s on Monday. The English pacer was quick in the air, and his terrifying deliveries troubled and dismissed three Indian batters — opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar.
Archer started Day 5 high on confidence and cleaned up India’s biggest hope in the 193-run chase, Pant, after he played only 12 deliveries. From a delivery that moved ever so slightly, beating Pant’s outside edge, Archer disturbed the woodwork. An overly aggressive Archer didn’t hold back his emotions and charged up on Pant, giving a send-off and exchanging a few words.
Just before his dismissal, Pant charged down the ground, hitting a full ball from Archer at long-off, which ignited Archer. “I just told him to charge that!,” said Archer to Sky Sports.
“I was struggling a little bit and one of the full balls he charged pissed me off a little bit, so when the ball nipped down the slope I was so grateful. I think that gave everyone the energy to push for this win,” he said.
After staging a monumental comeback led by Ravindra Jadeja’s hard-fought fifty, India eventually lost the Test by 22 runs after getting all out for 170. With this win, England went up 2-1 in the five-match Anderson-Tendulkar Test series with two Tests remaining.
Archer then showed his athleticism and dived right on his follow-through to take a sharp one-handed catch, removing Washington Sundar for a duck.
Archer, who bowled the fastest spell of his Test career, said he was a bit “emotional” but the Lord’s crowd gave him “huge lift”.
Story continues below this ad
“It was a long time coming, a lot of rehab, a lot of training but it’s moments like this that makes it all worth it. It was a long journey and I was a bit emotional. I tried my best not to be but when I got the first wicket I think that all went out of the window. All the joy. The whole crowd gave me a huge lift,” said Archer.
“The hardest part has been playing cricket for the last year and a half and still having the training wheels on talking about workloads – bowl today, don’t bowl tomorrow. Sometimes you think you are ready but you never know until you do it. The safer way is the best way so I am not too fussed and this is surely worth the wait,” he added.
