West Indies head coach Floyd Reifer has promised that the West Indies will fight fire with fire when they front up to England’s Jofra Archer on Friday. Archer has been in devastating form at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 and bowled the quickest ever ODI spell by an England player against Bangladesh since records began 13 years ago – averaging 90.6mph. (POINTS TABLE | FIXTURE | FULL COVERAGE)
Adding spice to his encounter with a fiery West Indies side, Jofra Archer was born in Barbados and played age-group cricket for the two-time world champions before switching his allegiance to England.
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And Reifer insists his batsmen – led by the titanic Chris Gayle – will not shy away from Archer's 90mph thunderbolts and attack him from the off in one of the most highly-anticipated matches of the tournament.
“It will be entertaining, we are all here to entertain. I am sure Jofra will be chomping at the bit to come at us but we will be ready for him,” he said.
“We have known Jofra for a long time, he is from Barbados. We knew him from under-15, under-17 and under-19 so he is not new to us.
“He is bowling quickly but that is nothing we are not accustomed to. We are looking forward to the challenge.
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“I actually played club cricket against him as a young guy. Jofra is a tremendous talent, we all know that.”
RAIN THREAT
Before Reifer can start planning for Archer, he must hope the rain which washed out the West Indies’ contest with South Africa moves away from the Hampshire Bowl.
Only 7.3 overs were played in Southampton, with the West Indies restricting South Africa to 29-2 thanks to a pair of Sheldon Cottrell wickets before the rain set in.
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That leaves the Windies on three points, with a resounding win against Pakistan in their first match followed by a 15-run loss to Australia last week.
With only four knock-out spots available, a no result increases the pressure and Reifer admits the margin for error has narrowed.
“It is unfortunate. It was a good opportunity to play them,” added Reifer.
“We have been playing great cricket, it does not matter who we play right now. We are out to play an exciting brand of cricket, just like we had done in the first couple of games.
“Against Australia, it is a chase we should have won but we made key mistakes. That happens. Next time we are in that position, we will make better decisions.”
(With ICC inputs)
