Jofra Archer is the X-factor of the Rajasthan Royals team for two reasons. One – because he is a fierce hitter of the cricket ball. Second – he is a quick bowler who can trouble batsmen on flat and sluggish wickets. In IPL 2020, his only scoring shots have been sixes, having hit a total of seven sixes. However, his bowling has been decent but not that effective. In the game against Kolkata Knight Riders though, Jofra Archer bowled with tremendous hostility and fire as he touched 152 and maintained a range of 90 mph in his spells.
Rajasthan Royals chose to bowl and Archer was immediately in the groove with some quick and pacy deliveires. In the opening over, his first ball was 147 kmph and he touched 150 kmph in the entire over as Sunil Narine struggled.
When he came back for his second spell, with Shubman Gill already looking in great touch, he gave Steve Smith’s side a crucial breakthrough. With his first ball of his second spell, he dismissed Gill for 47 with a 141 kmph ball that stopped on the wicket and Gill got a leading edge back to the bowler.
Increase in pace
Archer greeted Andre Russell with three deliveries in the range of 148 to 149 kmph. It was in the 14th over of the game that he really cranked up the pace. England ODI and T20I skipper Eoin Morgan felt the heat as he was rushed into a stroke by a 152 kmph thunderbolt. However, the last ball saw Morgan attempt an upper-cut but he was beaten by the speed of the ball which was closer to 150 kmph. Archer had remarkable figures of 3-0-4-2. However, in the final over of his spell, he was hit for a boundary by Pat Cummins and Tom Curran palmed a top edge from Morgan over the ropes for a six as he finished with 4-0-18-2.
When the innings ended, Archer said he did not look at the big screen for the pace he was generating. “I didn't see the speeds on the big screen, so not sure at what speed I was bowling. You can hit your lengths comfortably here as compared to Sharjah where even good balls can go to the boundary. I think they got 15 runs more than we would have liked,” Archer said.
Rajasthan Royals were blown away by the pace of Pat Cummins, Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi as they lost the match by 37 runs. This win boosted Kolkata Knight Riders to second in the table while Rajasthan Royals slipped to third.
