Jofra Archer marked his Hundred debut with a wicket and a win as Southern Brave beat London Spirit in Wednesday night’s men’s match at Southampton.
The England bowler – who missed the first three seasons of the tournament due to a horror run of back and elbow injuries – dismissed Andre Russell one ball after being hit for six by the West Indian in the Braves’ seven-wicket win at the Utilita Bowl.
Archer recorded figures of 1-24 from 20 balls as Brave restricted Spirit to 138-9, with Craig Overton taking 3-16 from 20 balls and Chris Jordan and Tymal Mills bagging two wickets each.
The Braves easily reached their target, reaching it in 89 balls as captain James Vince (56 off 35) and his opening partner Daniel Hughes (45 off 30) scored 95 off 58 balls.
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James Vince scored 65 runs from 35 balls to help Southern Brave beat London Spirit in The Hundred
Liam Dawson had earlier top-scored for Spirit with a late 45 from 19 balls, including a six and two fours off the last three deliveries of the innings, bowled by Jordan.
Spirit had lost Adam Rossington – caught by Overton off the bowling of left-handed spinner James Coles – on the third ball of the match and were 95-7 from 80 balls before Dawson’s appearance.
Archer: Small steps towards the end of the year
Archer, who told the BBC On Tuesday he was hoping to be part of England’s Ashes tour of Australia in 2025/26, speaking to Sky Sports about his fitness before the Braves’ win over the Spirit.
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Archer says his return to full fitness will come in “small steps” until the end of the year
The 29-year-old said: “I hope all the body talk is behind me.
“I just want to perform well. I want to take small steps until the end of the year, keep playing and become a regular player again.”
England cricket chief executive Rob Key has previously said Archer will not play Test cricket until at least 2025.
Player of the match – Craig Overton
“It was a pretty good surface, it behaved a bit with the new ball, and we wanted to make it as hard as possible, playing without width, and it did.
Craig Overton took figures of 3-16 from his 20 deliveries for Brave
“We have good rhythm in our boys, so I knew their hitters would come to me a little bit more. I knew I had to be on the ball and hit my lengths.
“Vincey (James Vince) is a phenomenal player and he did it for years with the Vitality Blast, he’s carried that form into The Hundred and it’s nice to see him come back into form.”
And after?
The Hundred continues on Thursday as Manchester Originals take on Welsh Fire at Emirates Old Trafford.
Both matches are being shown live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event, as well as a free live stream on skysports.com, the Sky Sports app and the Sky Sports Cricket YouTube channel.
Originals Women vs Fire Women airs live from 2:30pm (3:00pm first ball), with Originals Men vs Fire Men on air from 6:00pm (6:30pm first ball).
Sky Sports will be showing all 68 matches of The Hundred live this summer, while you can also watch selected matches via free streams on Sky Sports’ digital platforms and the Sky Sports Cricket YouTube channel.
