Rajasthan Royals pacer Jofra Archer‘s sportsman spirit was brought into question after Quinton de Kock missed his third IPL century and first one for his new franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in his second appearance in purple in Guwahati on Wednesday, March 26. England and Rajasthan Royals pacer Jofra Archer was slammed on social media on Wednesday after he bowled two wides in the 18th over of Kolkata Knight Riders’ innings to Quinton de Kock to allegedly ‘deny’ him a century in their IPL 2025 encounter in Guwahati.
Jofra Archer faced flack from social media, with many fans accusing him of bowling deliberate wide balls to deny Quinton de Kock a century. Kolkata Knight Riders cruised to their first win of the IPL 2025 season on Wednesday, beating Rajasthan Royals in a largely one-sided contest by 8 wickets. After restricting the home side to 151/9 in Guwahati, the Knight Riders chased the target down with 15 balls to spare, as their opener — Quinton de Kock – remained unbeaten on a brilliant 97.
Jofra Archer as per his standards is currently having poor form with the ball in IPL 2025
Opting to bowl, Kolkata’s disciplined bowling attack, led by their spin duo Varun Chakravarthy (2/17) and Moeen Ali (2/23), restricted Rajasthan to a below-par 151/9. Just 17 runs were left to win and de Kock was batting on 81, needing 19 for his ton. De Kock slammed a four and six to bring the equation down to just seven needed.
With the result taken care of, de Kock could go for his century. However, Jofra Archer bowled a couple of wides, one far away from the off-stump and another down the leg, to bring the equation down to five. De Kock was still stuck on 91 and now had to hit a four, followed by six to be able to reach three figures.
De Kock hit the six to finish the game and ended up unbeaten on 97. The southpaw missed his century but was able to get his team over the finishing line.
In response to Rajasthan’s 151, De Kock remained 97 not out from 61 deliveries, his innings laced with eight boundaries and six sixes, as Kolkata chased down the target in the 18th over. Despite the challenging nature of the pitch, de Kock showed controlled aggression, timing the ball well while ensuring that Kolkata’s chase remained on track.
The chase was never in trouble, with the required run rate hovering around run-a-ball, and de Kock carried his bat to take Kolkata over the line. The fans on social media wondered if Jofra Archer, who was leaking runs aplenty, did it intentionally to cut a couple of runs from the target. Even as de Kock did not have a particular reaction to being denied a hundred, several fans on social media aimed at Jofra Archer, claiming that the latter bowled two wides to prevent de Kock from reaching his century.
It has been a difficult start to the tournament for Jofra Archer, having conceded 76 runs in four overs against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the previous game and 33 now off just 15 balls in Guwahati while going wicketless in both matches. Even in this tough time Jofra Archer was supported by his teammate Shimron Hetmyer which was taken as a dig by former Australian bowler Brad Hogg .
Ex-Aussie spinner Brad Hogg slams Shimron Hetmyer for friendly chat with Quinton de Kock after he thrashed his team mate Jofra Archer
Former Australian spinner Brad Hogg has called out Shimron Hetmyer for congratulating Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batter Quinton de Kock heartily despite Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) comprehensive defeat in the IPL 2025 game on Wednesday. Hogg was baffled by the gesture, especially as his teammate Jofra Archer had been carted for consecutive boundaries.
De Kock missed out on the IPL 2025 opener but scored an unbeaten 61-ball 97 to help the defending champions chase down 152 with eight wickets to spare. Even as the left-hander was hammering 6, 4 and 6 to finish off the game, Shimron Hetmyer walked up to him with all smiles to congratulate him on his fantastic knock.
Reacting to the incident, Brad Hogg said Archer hadn’t had the games he would have expected; thus, it was unacceptable for Hetmyer to ‘cuddle’ De Kock the way he did. The 54-year-old opined that the West Indian needed to have some empathy towards his teammate.
He stated in a video shared on his YouTube channel via Hindustan Times:
“There’s one thing that really bugs me. Jofra Archer bowling the last over, went for 18 runs off 3 balls. It was a four, six, two wides, and another six. The game was finished, de Kock was brilliant. But, once that final six has been hit, one of the Rajasthan Royals players (Shimron Hetmyer) came over and he was laughing with de Kock. He was cuddling him. What is going on there?” You are part of a team, your mate has just been hit, demolished, demoralized.”
“He’s had two games in a row, Jofra Archer, where he hasn’t had the success that he would like. He’s the main strike bowler, and you got teammates celebrating with the opposition after the game. This is not on. You can’t do that. You’ve got to have a little bit more empathy for your bowler than that. Yes, shake hands; after about 10 minutes, go up and have a laugh. Not straight after the game,” Hogg added.
Jofra Archer, who was bought by the Royals for ₹12.5 crore in the mega auction, had registered the most expensive figures bowled in an IPL game against the SunRisers Hyderabad. The Barbadian had conceded 76 runs in his four wicketless overs. In what was a disappointing batting performance by the Royals against the Knight Riders, only five batters reached double figures as they managed 151/9 on the board. No batter registered a half-century, while Dhruv Jurel top-scored with 33.
Having played two games thus far, the inaugural IPL champions have lost both. The Royals will next face the Chennai Super Kings on March 30 in Guwahati.
Also Read:Â RR vs KKR: KKR Spinners Dupe RR; Quinton De Kock Decimates Bowlers