Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Rajasthan Royals pacer Jofra Archer looked furious and visibly frustrated after bowling a wayward opening over against Gujarat Titans during their IPL 2026 clash at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.Archer endured a nightmare start, conceding 18 runs in an 11-ball opening over – one of the joint-longest overs in IPL history. Struggling badly with his line and length, the England pacer sprayed wides and also bowled a no-ball as Gujarat Titans openers made full use of the poor start.
His chaotic over read: 4, Wd, 0, Nb+1, Wd5, Wd, Wd, 0, 1, 2, 1.After finally completing the over, Archer walked towards the boundary ropes looking red-faced and visibly angry. The fast bowler appeared frustrated with some sloppy fielding efforts from his teammates during the over, with his emotions clearly visible on the field.The dramatic scenes even prompted Rajasthan Royals head coach Kumar Sangakkara to come near the boundary ropes and calm Archer down before the game resumed.Here’s how the dramatic over unfolded ball by ball:Ball 0.1: Archer started with a short and wide delivery outside off stump and Sai Sudharsan immediately punished it, slashing the ball over point for a boundary to get off the mark in style.Ball 0.2: Archer bowled a wide outside off. The delivery shaped away sharply and Sai Sudharsan threw his bat at it but failed to connect.Ball 0.2 (legal delivery): Archer then delivered a short-of-length ball outside off which moved away from the batter. Sai Sudharsan guided it towards backward point but could not score.Ball 0.3: Things got worse for Archer as he overstepped by a huge margin and bowled a no-ball. Sai Sudharsan steered the back-of-length delivery towards backward point, where sloppy fielding allowed a single. Gujarat Titans also earned a free hit.Ball 0.3 (free hit): Archer sprayed the ball far down the leg side. Shubman Gill missed the flick and the ball raced away to the boundary for five wides.Ball 0.3 again: Archer followed it up with another wide down the leg side as he continued to struggle with control.Ball 0.3 again: Yet another wide followed, making it three consecutive wides. The free hit continued while the Rajasthan Royals dugout looked tense.Ball 0.3 (legal delivery): Archer finally got one right with a yorker outside off. Gill tried to squeeze it out but missed completely.Ball 0.4: Archer bowled on middle and leg and Gill flicked it through square leg for a single.Ball 0.5: Sai Sudharsan survived a leading edge while trying to flick across the line. The ball safely cleared the cover fielder and the batters completed two runs. The third umpire briefly checked for another no-ball, but Archer’s back foot was marginally behind the line.Ball 0.6: Archer ended the over with another misfield behind the stumps. Sai Sudharsan punched a length delivery towards cover for a single, but an overthrow at the keeper’s end allowed Gujarat Titans to finish with 18 runs from the over.Captain Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan struck commanding half-centuries before late fireworks from Washington Sundar propelled Gujarat Titans to a formidable 229/4 against Rajasthan Royals.
