Nothing wrong with Jofra Archer – Jamie Overton tips team-mate to bounce back

Jofra Archer has been backed to rediscover his best form at the T20 World Cup after some lacklustre outings since his return from injury.

Following an earlier than anticipated comeback from a side strain that prematurely ended his promising Ashes campaign, the explosive paceman’s economy rate has been in double figures in his last three T20s.

Only six times before that in 35 T20s for England had Archer gone at 10 or more an over, with his combined figures of 8-0-90-2 against Nepal and the West Indies in Mumbai showing he is yet to hit his straps.

However, the Wankhede Stadium can be an unhappy hunting ground for fast bowlers and it was where Archer conceded an eye-watering 55 in four overs last year as India racked up a ground-record total.

England’s loss to the Windies leaves them with little room to manoeuvre against Scotland and Italy in their remaining Group C fixtures but they travelled on Thursday to Kolkata, where Archer impressed by taking two for 21 against India in January 2025.

Encouragingly for England, Archer is still regularly exceeding 90mph and Jamie Overton is convinced his team-mate will start firing on all cylinders again sooner rather than later.

“Nothing’s wrong with him,” Overton said. “Sometimes pace on the ball and good wickets, the ball just goes flying.

“We know what a high-class bowler Jof is. I’m sure he’ll come back for the next few games and not go for many runs at all.”

With Sam Curran also expensive on Wednesday, Overton, who replaced Luke Wood in the XI, was by far the best of England’s seam options with two for 33 despite bowling the final over of the Windies innings.

When it was England’s turn to bat, they were suffocated by spin in the middle overs to suffer a first defeat in nine T20s, but Overton is confident they can bounce back against Scotland on Saturday.

Echoing captain Harry Brook’s assertion that they were too “careful” in their chase of 197, Overton said: “We played spin really well in Sri Lanka (when England won both ODI and T20 series recently).

“This was just one of those where we were maybe a bit careful and we didn’t quite execute as well as we would like. These things happen, we learn from it and come back stronger in Kolkata.”

Italy have gone ahead of England on net run-rate in the group after a stunning 10-wicket win over Nepal, who were on the verge of beating Brook’s side until Curran got them out of jail on Sunday.

England must win both their remaining fixtures at the famed Eden Gardens and hope the Windies do not slip up to guarantee a place in the Super Eight stage.

Overton added: “Scotland and Italy now, obviously two must-win games and we hopefully get through the group stage. We’ve got to play well, we’re still full of belief and we feel in a great spot.”