Back to normal conditions here: Archer
England pace spearhead Jofra Archer believes bowling in English conditions is a return to “normal” after playing on “easy wickets and smaller boundaries” in India, particularly during the IPL.
Archer returned figures of 3/29 while fellow fast bowler Josh Tongue claimed 4/38 as India were skittled out for 76 in 11.4 overs while chasing 202 in the third T20I — their biggest defeat in terms of runs in the shortest format.
The defeat also left the revamped Indian side, led by Shreyas Iyer, still searching for their first T20I win after taking over from Suryakumar Yadav following the World Cup triumph in March.
“I think it goes back to normal here,” Archer said at the post-match conference when asked how much his plans change while bowling to Indian batters after facing many of them in the IPL.
“You try to bowl the ball straight on a good length. Whereas over there, because the wickets are so easy and the boundaries are so small, you have to be really, really particular. Here, I feel your margin for error is a little bit bigger.”
He further said a total of 200-plus at Trent Bridge was always going to be difficult to chase, unlike in the IPL, where such scores are often considered below par.
“At the IPL, sometimes 200 isn’t safe. With 200 on the board on that wicket, I don’t want to say we were confident, but I felt it would have taken a really special innings to chase it down. I’m just glad everybody chipped in. Everybody who bowled got wickets today, so it was a complete bowling performance.”
The Indian batters have found conditions in the UK far more challenging.
After losing the T20I series to Ireland, they have now slipped 0-2 behind England in the five-match contest after the opening game was washed out. Archer continued his newfound love affair with the tall Josh Tongue, who made his T20I debut in the second match.
