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Jofra Archer was right on the money in the opening over of the second over of the ongoing three-match Test series between England vs New Zealand. Archer, who played for Rajasthan Royals till the end of the IPL 2026 season, and missed the opening Test of the series at home, drew a lot of criticism, and questions were raised against his work ethic.
Due to fitness concerns and workload management, it was uncertain whether the fast bowler would play in the second Test as well. Following Ben Stokes’ incident with fast bowler Gus Atkinson in a nightclub, the England team management had to include Jofra Archer in the playing eleven to form a strong combination to continue the winning momentum by winning the first Test of the ongoing series against New Zealand.
Jofra Archer came and made a record
According to statistics, Joffra Archer has made a record as an England fast bowler in this format without taking any wicket. In the very first over of the first innings of the game at the Oval, Archer was absolutely aggressive with the red ball in hand.
‘X’ Profile ‘England’s Barmy Army’ has shared some interesting stats about England’s first over today. According to the stats shared via a post, “Jofra Archer’s opening over was clocked at 144.7 km/h (89.9 mph). This is the fastest first over bowled by an England bowler in a Test since records began in 2006, as well as the fastest first over of a Test in England at that time.”
Joffra Archer. Fast. #ENGvNZ pic.twitter.com/VLLRoC57U7
— England’s Barmy Army (@TheBarmyArmy) June 17, 2026
The delivery was on the line of stoopms
Archer’s intention on the very first ball of the over was very clear: he wanted to hit the wicket. Some of the balls in the over were on the wicket line and some of them were full pitches with pure pace, as reported in the post.
At the time of the toss, England’s captain for the match, Joe Root, made it clear that they were opting to bowl first, simply to utilize the surface as much as possible. The Oval pitch is known to mostly favor fast bowlers. Traditionally, especially in Tests, when all players need to save some energy for the rest of the day, they start bowling slower.
Archer took the opposite path today. Instead of keeping the pace down, he warmly welcomed New Zealand captain Tom Latham and Devon Conway. Both the opening batsmen faced the balls with extra caution.
England are up against New Zealand with an inexperienced bowling attack
Root noted that after the tumultuous days leading up to the match, he employed an inexperienced bowling line-up, with Atkinson and Ollie Robinson, both experienced fast bowlers, ruled out of the match for different reasons.
In his absence, the England team management retained Jofra Archer in their line-up along with bowlers like Josh Tongue, Matthew Fisher and Sonny Baker. So far, Archer has bowled 4 overs including a maiden and has not got any wicket. Matthew Fish took the wicket of Conway.
