• Archer praised after rapid IPL turnaround

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    England fast bowler Jofra Archer has been lauded for his match-winning IPL display for the Rajasthan Royals, a rapid turnaround from a record hammering in the season opener.

    Rajasthan thrashed the Punjab Kings by 50 runs on Saturday with Archer returning bowling figures of 3-25 from his four overs of express pace at Mullanpur, near Chandigarh.

    Archer returned the most expensive bowling figures in tournament history on 23 March against the Sunrisers Hyderabad when he was hammered for 76 runs off his four overs.

    He followed it up with another wicketless outing before an impressive 1-13 in Rajasthan’s first win of the season last Sunday.

    TV images of Archer dozing in the pavilion while Rajasthan batted went viral on Saturday but the chatter soon turned to his bowling when he flattened the stumps of two batsmen in the opening over of the Punjab chase.

    “We always knew Jofra is a world-class bowler. The skill he brings to the table and into the game, very few can bring that,” Rajasthan’s Sandeep Sharma said of his fellow seam bowler.

    “The entire management and team had confidence in him. We believed that once he gets that one over, that one wicket, maybe two good overs, it would boost his confidence and now, you’ve seen what he can do.

    “He’s one of the toughest bowlers to face. I’m pretty sure this was just our fourth game, and with more matches, he’ll only get better and better.”

    Archer bowled left-hander Priyansh Arya first ball with a 144.6kph thunderbolt that pitched on leg stump and nipped away to hit the top of off.

    Archer then got the speed up to 148.6kph as his sixth legal delivery crashed into the stumps of Punjab captain Shreyas Iyer.

    Sandeep complemented Archer’s quick bowling by taking two wickets with his medium pace as Punjab were restricted to 155-9 in their chase of 206.

    It was Rajasthan’s second straight victory in a match where wicketkeeper Sanju Samson returned as captain after he played the first three games only as batsman.

    Samson praised Archer and Sandeep for their contributions and called them “a very deadly combo” with “one guy bowling at 150 and one guy at 115”.

    Thirty-year-old Archer returned to Rajasthan after they bid $1.45-million for the England international.

    Archer has always been a prime target, with IPL heavyweights the Mumbai Indians snapping him up for $1.06-million in 2022 despite an injury which meant he failed to appear that season and played only four matches in 2023 before being released.

    © Agence France-Presse

    Photo: Biju Boro/AFP via Getty Images

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    Simon Borchardt