New Delhi, (Samajweekly) Jofra Archer had a watershed year in 2019. The England fast bowler played a crucial role in his team’s successful World Cup campaign and burst onto the scene in Test cricket in the Ashes.
More interestingly, Archer bowled the Super Over in the dramatic final of the 2019 World Cup against New Zealand. The Kiwis batted first and were restricted to 249/8. Archer picked one wicket while Chris Woakes and Liam Plunkett took three each. The pacer says he thought the English team would cruise to the total but it wasn’t to be.
“I thought we were in good form with the bat and I thought we were going to cruise to the total, we got to like five wickets down and most of the dressing room, I wouldn’t say we were panicking, but we were a little bit nervous,” said Archer while talking to spin consultant Ish Sodhi on the podcast hosted by his Indian Premier League side Rajasthan Royals.
“A final has its own set of nerves that come with it, just because it’s a final, you don’t even need to touch a ball or hold a bat to get nervous. Especially when it’s at Lord’s and it’s packed, the sun is out and everyone is watching, all eyes are on you.”
England’s mighty batting line-up however were given a hard time by the Kiwi bowling attack. While Lockie Ferguson and Jimmy Neesham took three wickets each, Colin de Grandhomme and Matt Henry starved the batsmen for runs.
However, England all-rounder Ben Stokes inspired a late comeback and the scores were tied at the end of the 50 overs. The situation was the same at the end of the Super Over and England won the World Cup on the basis of their superior boundary count.
“We never imagined that it would have gone the way it did. I didn’t even imagine I was going to bowl that last over either! But it happened and we came out on the winning side. New Zealand played really well and bowled very well in that tournament,” said Archer.
Archer would have been currently in the thick of the 2020 IPL season with the Rajasthan Royals had it not been for the coronavirus pandemic forcing a postponement of the tournament. He said that he hopes he can help out the young fast bowlers in the squad regardless of what happens.
“Well I just hope no matter what happens (with the IPL) I am still able to offer them support. When you’re young and bowling fast, you still need to look after your bowling, you need to recover well and you have to prepare well because then you might be doing it for only a few games and get injured, you might get tired or get out of form,” he said.
