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Fast bowler Jofra Archer impressed one and all as he returned to international cricket to help England beat Pakistan in the second T20I of the four-match series. Archer was sidelined due to injuries for 385 days and made his comeback at Edgbaston after a club matches in his native Barbados and a few games for Sussex. The 29-year-old played a vital role with both bat and ball as the Three Lions registered a comprehensive 23-run victory.
Batting first, England lost steam after a blistering start thanks to captain Jos Buttler's incredible effort. The Rajasthan Royals star smashed 84 in 51 balls while Will Jacks and Jonny Bairstow played crucial cameos. But after top-order batters, England struggled before Archer smashed 12 in four balls with one six and a four to take the total to 183.
Archer impresses with bat and ball as England beat Pakistan
Then with the ball, Jofra Archer showed off his class despite going for 15 runs in his first over. The Bridgetown-born star then came back and dismissed an in-form Azam Khan on the first ball of his second over. Then in his final over Archer got Imad Wasim who was batting at 22 in 13 balls to turn the game in England's favor as he ended with 2-28.
Taking wickets again for England, it's fantastic: Buttler on Jofra Archer
Talking about this victory and Jofra Archer's performance, captain Jos Buttler expressed elation. He then spoke about taking Archer with caution but deemed his efforts as massive positive. Speaking as collected his Player of the Match award, Buttler said, "We got huge amount out of it (the match). First and foremost, win the game, that's what we wanted. That's a big tick in the box. A great performance from everybody. (On his own batting) You always want to be playing well. Feel like I am hitting the ball well, which is great. Nice to play well today. (On Archer) He was brilliant, you can see the emotions. Taking wickets again for England, it's fantastic."
"You got to temper the expectations, it's a long time, he's not going to be the Jofra Archer of old straightaway. But, a really positive performance. It's trying to absolutely want to get games into him but look after him as well. The whole bowling group was brilliant. Rash (Rashid) has been like that for a long time. Those two overs from Chris Jordan at the death were outstanding."
