• Archer welcomes England’s trust

    Fast bowler Jofra Archer relished the support of teammates after playing a key role in England’s victory over New Zealand in Sunday’s World Cup final at Lord’s in London.

    Archer bowled the Super Over that ultimately decided the title, and limited New Zealand to 15 runs when 16 were required. With the match and Super Over tied, England were awarded the win on the back of a superior boundary count.

    ‘If we had lost, I don’t know what I would have done. But Ben Stokes told me even before the over,”Win or lose, this does not define you. Everyone believes in you.” The skipper, Eoin Morgan, really believed in me, even after the six. He was really calm and really understanding,’ said Archer.

    ‘And Joe Root came up to me and said some inspirational words as well. So I knew that, if we did lose, it wasn’t the end of the world. I am glad that the guys look up to me and they trust me to do it. This is a great team. I cannot imagine a better bunch of guys to share it with. I can’t put it into words.’

    Archer was born in Bridgetown, Barbados and qualified to play for England earlier this year. His international debut came in May and 14 ODIs and one T20I have since yielded 25 wickets. He was the 2019 World Cup’s joint third-highest wicket-taker, alongside Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman, with 20 in 11 matches.

    ‘I have had the best two months of my life. Making my debut, making my World Cup debut, and playing in the final in the space of two months. It is really special to me and hopefully I can look back 15 years down the line and say I was a part of that,’ he concluded.

    Photo: Getty Images

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    SA CRICKET