Jofra Archer's triumphant return helps England defeat India at Lord's
Of course Jofra Archer was going to open the bowling for England against India on the final day of the Lord's test on Monday.
'Yeah, part of the reason I went with Jof this morning ... six years ago now to the day,' England captain Ben Stokes said.
On July 14, 2019, Archer helped England won its first Cricket World Cup trophy in the most dramatic final against New Zealand, also at Lord's.
'He played a major role,' Stokes said, 'and I had a feeling he'd do something special (on Monday) and crack the game open.'
In the fourth over of the day, Archer sent Rishabh Pant's off stump cartwheeling. Then in the day's eighth over, he got Washington Sundar with a fantastic one-hand caught-and-bowled.
Archer and Stokes combined to take 3-11 in the first 40 minutes and hastened India's demise from 58-4 overnight to 82-7. India, chasing 193, was eventually dismissed for 170 and England won by 22 runs to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
Archer's first test in 4 1/2 years produced an impressive match haul of five wickets, his most in a test since December 2019.
'I had a gut feeling that Jof's going to do something in his first game back,' Stokes said. 'Every time he's announced on the tannoy, the ground erupts, and when the speeds go up on the screen, the feeling changes.'
Archer regularly worried India by bowling at speeds of up to 90 mph (145 kph). But he was managed by Stokes, never doing more than five-over spells and spaced well apart.
It frustrated Archer but he also understood after years of being sidelined by elbow and back injuries.
'It was pretty hectic, for the first game back,' he told broadcaster Sky Sports. "I probably bowled a few more overs than I thought I would've (39.2 in the match) but every single one mattered today so I'm not too fussed about it.
'Only played one test at Lord's (on debut in 2019) and that one was just as special as this one. It's been a long time coming, a lot of rehab, a lot of training. But moments like this make it worth it.'
'Managing the workload is still very hard, being told you can bowl some days and not others.'
Archer never thought he would not return to test cricket. His previous test was in February 2021 in Ahmedabad, and his previous home test was in August 2020.
'I'm not totally out of the woods yet but it's a good start,' he said. 'The style of cricket that this team plays, it means I'm going to bowl a lot of overs!'
Archer didn't hold back either when he verbally sprayed Pant and Sundar after dismissing them. It was all part of the passions brought on by earlier incidents between the teams.
"We came together as a group yesterday and said, you know, sometimes we're too nice. We go to other places and some teams are not as nice to us as we are to them so I guess we just tried to shift it. I don't know if it gave us a bit more of a buzz in the field or not but we will keep it in the bank for the future!
'It wasn't a proud moment (to Pant). I just told him to cherish that moment. He came down the track and that annoyed me a little bit so when the ball nipped down the slope (and bowled him), I was so grateful.'
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