New Delhi:Jofra Archer made an unwanted all-time 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. RR chose to bowl first at Sawai Mansingh Stadium and Archer was all over the place with his lines and lengths as he bowled the first over.
Archer bowled up to 11 balls in the first over to GT openers Sai Sudharsan and captain . The England pacer has set an unwanted record as his 11-ball first over is now the longest first over ever bowled in the history of the Indian cash-rich league.
Archer breaks Shamar Joseph’s recordThe previous record for the longest opening over was held by Shamar Joseph, who had bowled 10 balls to complete his first over in the clash against the Lucknow Super Giants in 2024.
This is also the joint-longest over bowled in IPL history by a bowler. Mohammed Siraj, Tushar Deshpande, Shardul Thakur, Sandeep Sharma and Arshdeep Singh are among the long list of bowlers he joins.
Longest over bowled in IPL (in balls):11 - Mohd. Siraj vs MI, Bengaluru, 2023 (19th Over)
11 - Tushar Deshpande vs LSG, Chennai, 2023 (Over #4)
11 - Shardul Thakur vs KKR, Kolkata, 2025 (13th over)
11 - Sandeep Sharma vs DC, Delhi (2025) (20th over)
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 overThe 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 outMeanwhile, 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 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.