Jofra Archer achieved an all-time unwanted record as he bowled as many as 11 balls in the first over for Rajasthan Royals in the clash against the Gujarat Titans on Saturday, May 9. Archer was extremely wayward with his lines and lengths as he sent down the first over after RR opted to bowl first at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
Archer sent down as many as 11 balls in the first over to GT openers Sai Sudharsan and captain Shubman Gill. The England speedster created an unwanted record as his 11-ball first over is now the longest first over bowled in the history of the Indian cash-rich league.
Archer breaks Shamar Joseph's record
The record for the longest opening over previously belonged to Shamar Joseph, who had sent down 10 balls to complete his first over in the clash against the Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2024.
This is also the joint-longest over bowled by a bowler in the IPL. He joins a long listing of bowlers, featuring Mohammed Siraj, Tushar Deshpande, Shardul Thakur, Sandeep Sharma, Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh.
Longest over bowled in the IPL (in balls):
11 - Mohd. Siraj vs MI, Bengaluru, 2023 (Over #19)
11 - Tushar Deshpande vs LSG, Chennai, 2023 (Over #4)
11 - Shardul Thakur vs KKR, Kolkata, 2025 (Over #13)
11 - Sandeep Sharma vs DC, Delhi, 2025 (Over #20)
11 - Hardik Pandya vs GT, Wankhede, 2025 (Over #8)
11 - Arshdeep Singh vs GT, Mullanpur, 2026 (Over #20)
11 - Jofra Archer vs GT, Jaipur, 2026 (Over #1)
Archer concedes 18 in the opening over
The opening over went for 18 runs as Archer erred in his lines. He bowled four wides and one no-ball in the over. His first ball was punched by Sudhasaran for a four before he bowled a wide. A dot followed next and then Archer overstepped big to bowl a no-ball. He gave away five runs for a wide down the leg side and then sent down two more wides.
However, Archer corrected himself and did not make any errors and gave four runs from the remaining four balls.
Riyan Parag misses out
Meanwhile, the Royals are without regular captain Riyan Parag for this game. Parag has suffered a hamstring issue as Yashasvi Jaiswal leads in his absence. RR made a couple of changes as Shimron Hetmyer and Ravi Bishnoi missed out. "We are going to bowl first. I think the wicket is pretty good and we want to chase it. Riyan pulled his hamstring last game, so I feel he'll be coming back soon. Shimron Hetmyer comes in and Yash Raj Punja comes in. That's the two guys who are coming in. I'm really excited, looking forward to the game," Jaiswal said at the toss.
