Jofra Archer makes his England return after a near-TWO-YEAR absence from international cricket

Jofra Archer claimed a solitary late wicket on his long-awaited return to international cricket, but the England fast bowler largely toiled against South Africa after conceding 81 runs from his 10 overs in the one-day series opener.

The 27-year-old began his England comeback by bowling his full allocation of overs at the the Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein.

Archer finished with his most expensive ODI figures, highlighting the work ahead as he steps up his recovery from a nightmare run of injuries.

Archer was hit for 81 runs from 10 overs as he ended with his most expensive ODI figures

South Africa’s opening batsmen Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock gave Archer a challenging start to his return, with his first five overs coming at the cost of 41 runs.

Archer had two further spells during the host’s innings, stemming the flow of runs slightly on his second.

The fast bowler endured a challening ninth over by shipping 20 runs, after two no balls and a wide, marking his most expensive in an ODI.

Archer secured a reward for his efforts in his final over by taking the wicket of Wayne Parnell with a slower ball, with the South African being caught by Dawid Malan.

The 27-year-old fast bowler’s first ball on his England comeback was clocked at 87mph

Rassie van der Dussen top scored for South Africa with 111, as the hosts set England a target of 299 to win from their 50 overs.

England will take the positives of Archer’s return after completing his full allocation of overs, as well as regularly bowling close to the 90mph mark. 

Archer admitted prior to the series he is currently around 80 per cent fit, as he steps up his comeback.

South Africa’s openers scored 41 runs off Archer’s first five overs of the one-day match

The fast bowler has faced a series of injury setbacks over the past 22 months, which forced his absence from the England set-up.

The fast bowler required two surgeries to fix an elbow injury and had been expected to return last summer.

He was then diagnosed with a stress fracture to his back, which led to a further spell of rehabitilion.

Archer earned his 43rd England cap across all formats, with captain Jos Buttler expecting the bowler to get ‘better and better’ following his return.

England are expected to manage Archer’s comeback by making back-to-back matches off limits, as well as potentially limiting the number of overs he bowls initially.

Archer has been tipped to get better and better as he steps up his return to action

Archer has admitted he may need to fine tune his body over the next ‘two, three, four months’ to make himself more resilient.

Archer bowled the Super Over in England’s World Cup final win over New Zealand in 2019, as well as taking 22 Australian wickets in the Ashes series in the same year to launch his Test career.

The fast bowler has expressed hopes of a repeat later this year.