English all-rounder Moeen Ali has hailed his teammate Jofra Archer and stated that he is the fastest bowler he has faced in his career so far. Moeen further added that he is a sort of a bowler who makes top-class batsmen do different things in order to score and survive against the sensation from Barbados. Jofra Archer has become the next big thing in Englis cricket
Archer who was not even eligible to play for England before March is now arguably the most important bowler in the English set up. He broke into the England squad during the ODI series against Pakistan. Despite not being part of the preliminary World Cup squad, he made the final cut after impressive performances during the ODI series against Pakistan.
During the opening World Cup match, Jofra Archer accounted for Aiden Markram and the South African skipper Faf du Plessis and Rassie Vander Hussen to finish with impressive figures of 3/27 in his allotted 10 overs. On his World Cup debut, Archer bowled a sensational bouncer that hit Hashim Amla on the head which eventually forced him to retire hurt.
“Jofra is amazing. He just makes good batters do different things, that pace he has is incredible. He is the fastest I have ever faced. It is unbelievable. He gives us that something else, he can win you games even if he goes for a few runs,” said Ali. “Knowing you have him in your side makes a big difference.”
England was right under the pump when they lost Jonny Bairstow in the opening over. However, it was a great partnership between Joe Root and Jason Roy which got them back on track. They eventually posted 311/8 with Ben Stokes top scoring 89. South Africa was pretty disappointing and crumbled to 207 as Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid proved to be the difference between the two teams as they bowled brilliantly. Meanwhile, Jofra Archer also bagged 3 important wickets.
“I felt, losing the toss and with it being a 10.30 start, that there was a lot of pressure. More than we have ever faced. We would have liked to have chased,” he said. “To bat like that showed we really adapted to the wicket and it was great, I thought the guys did really well on what was a tough wicket.
“Everyone was a bit nervous. I was on the balcony watching and I think the pressure with being the home side and the No.1 side in the world was always going to be on. The guys played really well, it was a massive win for us,” he added.