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England pacer Jofra Archer's first Indian Premier League (IPL) outing in two years was a nightmarish one, as not only he delivered the most expensive over in the tournament's history, but also made a name for himself as one of the worst T20 bowlers in the game, statistically.
Ishan Kishan's explosive debut in Orange colours and super-consistent Travis Head were the stars of the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) batting clinic as they reached 286/6 in their 20 overs against Rajasthan Royals (RR), the second-highest total in the league's history. RR won the toss and opted to field first. Things started off for SRH with a quickfire stand between Abhishek Sharma and Head, continuing the domination that made them fan favourites and the stars who redefined T20 batting last year. In the fifth over, Archer came to deliver his first over and Head showed no remorse while clobbering him for 23 runs, including four boundaries and a six. Archer's second over, the 11th over of the innings, went for 12 runs as two boundaries were hit, while the third went for 22 runs, thanks to three massive sixes by Kishan to the cheers of the crowd. After three overs, Archer's figures were 0/57 and he had reached his half-century in 16 balls. His final over started with a scary beamer that escaped Kishan and wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel and went for four more buys. Four more boundaries in the over, three by a red-hot Klaasen and one by Ishan, made it 19 runs, ending Archer's spell at 0/76 in four overs. As per Cricviz quoted by Wisden, an insight was delivered into Archer's recent T20 struggles, with his bowling impact of -6.4 (among bowlers having bowled at least 300 balls) being the worst-ever among all bowlers in the world since the start of last year's The Hundred competition in the UK, his return to cricket after injury. In this time frame, Archer has taken just 21 wickets in 19 T20Is for England, Southern Brave, Sussex and Rajasthan Royals at an average of 30.1 and an economy rate of 9.4. His best bowling figures are 2/18. Coming to the match, SRH was put to bat first by RR, who opted to field first. A 45-run stand between Abhishek (24 in 11 balls, with five fours) and Head kickstarted things for SRH. An 85-run stand between Head (67 in 31 balls, with nine fours and three sixes) and Kishan accelerated the run-rate). Cameos came from Nitish Kumar Reddy (30 in 15 balls, with four boundaries and a six) and Heinrich Klaasen (34 in 14 balls, with five fours and a six) and provided good support to Ishan, who ended with 106* in 47 balls, with 11 fours and six sixes. Tushar Deshpande (3/44) was the top bowler for RR, while Maheesh Theekshana got two scalps for 52 runs. Jofra Archer delivered the most expensive over in IPL history, going wicketless for 76 runs in four overs. During the run-chase, RR sunk to 24/2, with Yashasvi Jaiswal and skipper Riyan Parag going back to the pavilion for single-digit scores. However, a fighting 111-run partnership between Sanju Samson (66 in 37 balls, with seven fours and four sixes) and Dhruv Jurel (70 in 35 balls, with five fours and six sixes) gave RR a fighting chance. Shimron Hetmyer (42* in 23 balls, with four and four sixes) and Shubham Dubey (34* in 11 balls, with a four and four sixes) did put an 80-run stand, but the score was too big for RR and they ended at 242/6, losing the game by 44 runs. Harshal Patel (2/34) and Simarjeet Singh (2/46) were the top bowlers for SRH, while Mohammed Shami got one. Ishan got the 'Player of the Match' for his fine century. (ANI)
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