Ben Stokes, the captain of England, said he had a sense Jofra Archer will do something exceptional on Monday, July 14, the fifth day of the Lord’s Test match against India. He acknowledged that he had also considered winning the ODI World Cup on same day six years prior.
England crushed India 22 runs in an exciting Test at Lord. The visitors were put under a total of 193 runs to report, which, starting on their overnight score of 58-4, was bowled out by 170 runs, with Ravindra Jadeja making a gallant effort of 61*. Bolter Archer had England off to a good start as he bowled out Rishabh Pant, who is the in-form batsman in Indian cricket, with a beauty in his own first spell. After that, the hosts were never behind in the contest even despite the lower-order fightback by India.
After the match, England captain Ben Stokes stated that he had a hunch Archer would open the game for the side. As he considered the narrow victory, he stated (via ESPNcricinfo):
“Yeah, part of the reason I went with Jof this morning, six years ago now to the day. He played a major role and I had a feeling he’d do something special and crack the game open. A bit of discussion, Brydon [Carse] had an amazing spell [last night], but I had a gut feeling that Jof’s going to do something in his first game back.”
Ben Stokes
Jofra at Lord's 🤝 14th July
14.7.19 – Epic World Cup win
14.7.25 – Epic Test win pic.twitter.com/omLPqWu07u
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 14, 2025Archer, in his first Test match in four years, took 2-52 in the first innings and 3-55 in the second. In addition to Pant, he got rid of Yashasvi Jaiswal for a duck and returned Washington Sundar for a duck with a spectacular catch. At Lord’s, Archer had also been the star of the 2019 World Cup final. He maintained composure in the Super Over after recording frugal statistics of 1-42 throughout his ten overs.
Ben Stokes Named Player of the Match After Match-Winning Effort
Though Archer and Brydon Carse (2-30) stood out with the ball in the second innings of England at Lord, Ben Stokes made the most outstanding contributions to the performance of the hosts. He had a deserving crown of the Player of the Match. The all-round cricketer set aside the fitness issue, bowling 20 overs in the first innings and 24 during the second, ending with five very important wickets. And looking back at his work, he remarked (via Sky Sports):
“I have taken myself to some pretty dark places before. Today was… but look, bowling to win a Test match, if that doesn’t get you excited, I don’t know what does… With what today was, what was on the line. Yesterday [Saturday] was a bit different. You know, there was still more cricket to be played. And, you know, pulled myself off there.
Ben Stokes
“I mean, to be honest, I was absolutely cooked [on day three] as well. But again, today, you know, game was on the line. Nothing was stopping me.”
Ben Stokes
77 runs with the bat 🏏
44-8-111-5 with the ball 🔴
Player of the Match 🏅
Shift. pic.twitter.com/o2tn5Pp9eD
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 14, 2025In addition to his skill as a bowler, Ben Stokes made contributions with the bat in both innings. He scored 33 in the second innings and 44 in the first, both of which were crucial to the outcome.
