Jofra Archer snapped the stump of Sussex team-mate Oli Carter as he stepped up his latest injury comeback in a practice match in Bangalore.

Archer, who last played for England a year ago and has struggled with multiple stress fractures in his elbow and back, is being eased back into action with a view to playing at this summer’s T20 World Cup.

He has joined Sussex on their pre-season trip to India and lined up against his own side for the local Karnataka State Cricket Association XI on Friday.

The 28-year-old took two for 22 in seven overs for the hosts, trapping Tom Alsop lbw before bowling Carter with a delivery that shattered the right-hander’s off stump.

Archer was withdrawn from the forthcoming Indian Premier League season by the England and Wales Cricket Board and made an unscheduled appearance for his old club side Foundation during a trip to his native Barbados in December.

England are crossing their fingers they can unleash the 2019 World Cup winner in the Caribbean in June.

White-ball captain Jos Buttler said this week: “We all know just what a special cricketer he is and it’s been a tough few years for him not being able to get on the park and perform.

“With someone like him who is such a superstar, you’re always optimistic that with the physios and doctors working, his body will just allow him to get back where he was.

“I know how hard he’s been working at it and of course how desperate he is to come back.

“It’s really exciting for him that hopefully he’s going to get back to performing because as a captain he’s someone you want to throw the ball to.”

England white-ball captain Jos Buttler remains confident Jofra Archer can be a key player at this summer’s T20 World Cup.

Archer has not represented his country since last March when he featured in a T20 in Bangladesh and not played on the global stage since May when he broke down at the Indian Premier League.

The fast bowler has been plagued by a series of stress fractures in his right elbow over recent years, but managing director of England men’s cricket Rob Key stated in January the plan was for Archer to be fit for the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and United States, which starts on June 2.

No further updates have been provided for Barbados-born Archer, who spent time with the white-ball squad during their short tour of the Caribbean in December and caught the England and Wales Cricket Board management off guard by playing for his old school side Foundation during the trip.

Archer was pulled out of this year’s IPL by the ECB but is currently in India with his county Sussex to prepare for the new season and Buttler is hopeful there will be no setbacks between now and June.

Asked if he was optimistic about Archer being fit for the T20 World Cup, Buttler, speaking at an event to promote Major League Baseball coming to London in June, said: “I think so.

“For Jofra, we all know just what a special cricketer he is and it’s been a tough few years for him not being able to get on the park and perform, but with someone like him who is such a superstar, you’re always optimistic that with the physios and doctors working, his body will just allow him to get back where he was.

“I know how hard he’s been working at it and of course how desperate he is to come back.

“A couple of times (I’ve spoken to him). It’s really exciting for him that hopefully he’s going to get back to performing because as a captain he’s someone you want to throw the ball to.

“I think as a player he brings so much to the game – not just for us obviously but for the cricket world when he’s performing.”

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England should play the long game with Jofra Archer and prime him for India’s visit next year as well as the 2025/26 Ashes, according to former fast bowler Steve Harmison.

Archer’s last Test was more than three years ago, but he remains a much-coveted asset and England are hopeful he will be available for their T20 World Cup title defence in the Caribbean in June.

Harmison, though, believes the next two marquee five-Test series against India in the summer of 2025 then in Australia the following winter should take priority above all else where Archer is concerned.

“It’s slowly but surely with him,” Harmison told the PA news agency. “I’d build Jofra Archer up to play in 10 Test matches over the next two years – five against India and five against Australia or four each.

“I’d treat him like a prize racehorse. If England can keep him fit for the majority of those two series, I’d feel as though they have got a chance of winning.

“If he can play in Test matches in between and his body is holding up then everything after that is a bonus.”

Archer has had a succession of stress fractures in his bowling elbow and another in his back since his most recent red-ball appearance for England, while his last professional appearance was 10 months ago.

He joined England in Barbados before Christmas during their white-ball tour of the West Indies and took part in some bowling drills as part of his rehabilitation from the latest setback in his right elbow.

Just a couple of days afterwards, Archer, who was awarded a two-year central contract in October, blindsided England by playing for his old school side in the Barbados Cricket Association league.

But Harmison feels it could be better for everyone involved if the 28-year-old is allowed to get back to full fitness away from prying eyes.

“When I heard he was playing in that game in Barbados, I was over the moon, I just wish he had told (England’s managing director of men’s cricket) Rob Key first,” Harmison said.

“If he turns up for the T20 World Cup, fantastic, if he turns up for a Test match this summer, fantastic, but the most important thing for me is about his mental health and making sure he’s in a position to play cricket without thinking, ‘In however many weeks, I’m going to be injured again’.

“The more he does the bowling repetition and the muscle memory stuff under less scrutiny and less pressure, the better it will be for him coming back into top-level cricket.”

England have won three and lost six of their last 10 Tests against India and Australia and, in both series, there were instances where Ben Stokes’ side let promising positions slip.

After India sealed a 4-1 triumph in Dharamsala on Sunday, England head coach Brendon McCullum admitted they were too “timid” in passages and said their ‘Bazball’ style would be refined.

Harmison, who criticised England’s lack of a warm-up match before the series, expects them to rebound with six wins out of six against the West Indies and Sri Lanka this summer, but he insisted there must be lessons learned from what happened in India.

“They’ll win all six Test matches comfortably,” said Harmison, who played 123 times for England between 2002 and 2009. “It’s not a case of looking at just the summer, they’ve got to look beyond that.

“They’ve got to be smarter in identifying situations. We’ve got some cricket brains leading this team, but sometimes inside that dressing room, we might have individual characters who are happy to say, ‘That’s the way we play’, and that’s not good enough for me, it’s not acceptable.

“They have to be more accountable when they make mistakes. This is not the Dog and Duck, this is Test match cricket.

“Having the crutch of, ‘That’s the way we play, it’s Bazball’. No, Bazball is giving you the freedom to be the best version of yourself possible. You’ve still got to play the situation.”

England are hopeful pace bowler Jofra Archer will be fit to play in this summer’s T20 World Cup.

The 28-year-old has not played professional cricket since a recurrence of an elbow injury at the Indian Premier League in May.

He has been plagued by injuries since bursting on to the international scene by helping England win the 50-over World Cup in 2019 before starring in that summer’s Ashes.

Archer did train with England during their white-ball tour of the Caribbean in December and Key is optimistic he can play a part in their T20 World Cup title defence.

“Our plan is the T20 World Cup, building him up slowly,” Key told the BBC’s Tailenders podcast.

“I saw him bowl in the Caribbean and it was like he’d never been away.

“I don’t want to get back to this thing where he plays and then goes down again.

“He wanted to play in the IPL, but we said not this time. Hopefully the years he has missed he can add to the end of his career. He is such a talent.”

England begin the T20 World Cup, which will be held in the West Indies and the United States, against Scotland in Barbados on June 4.

Matthew Mott suspects the bulk of England’s squad in the Caribbean will return to the region for the T20 World Cup next year – but places will be kept open for Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer.

Stokes is convalescing from surgery to a longstanding left knee problem and the England Test captain hopes to return to full all-rounder status in 2024, having functioned as a specialist batter recently.

His unbeaten 52 in the T20 World Cup final 13 months ago got England over the line and Mott admitted that reserving Stokes a spot for next year’s title defence represents something of a no-brainer.

The England white-ball head coach is also keeping close tabs on Archer, who it is hoped can return to full fitness in time for the T20 World Cup in June after a string of injuries to his right elbow.

“Ben, aside from his incredible match-winning ability in every department is that ability to have a seam bowler in that top-six gives you so many options with your team balance,” Mott said.

“A lot of the times you have to give up something. If you win, everyone says ‘oh, they got it right’. If you lose, it’s ‘they were a bowler short or a spinner short’.

“When you’ve got a seam bowler in your top-six, it makes selection a hell of a lot easier. So (choosing him at the T20 World Cup) is a given. Every team in the world wants someone like that and they’re rare.

“In terms of Jofra, you’ve just got absolute box-office pace, change of pace, bowl any over in the innings. Him on the park is massive, everyone would agree with that.”

England, without regulars Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow and Mark Wood, have fought back from 2-0 down in their T20 series against the West Indies to level at 2-2 and force a decider in Trinidad on Thursday.

And Mott gave a strong indication that the majority of the players involved in this series will be on the plane when England return for the T20 World Cup in June in the Caribbean and United States.

“We always said with this series we’d go pretty close to the side we’re looking for,” Mott said. “Otherwise, why would they be here? We don’t get many opportunities to play together before the World Cup.”

Phil Salt has made an irresistible case to open alongside Jos Buttler for the foreseeable future with match-winning innings of 109 not out in Grenada on Saturday and an England record 119 in Trinidad.

While he has flickered in an England shirt before, Salt is reaping the benefits of continuity in selection, having been on the fringes of both white-ball sides before this breakout tour.

“I’ve always thought he was an amazing player,” Mott said. “He does stuff that not many people can do and we’ve seen it at domestic level for a long time and we’ve seen glimpses of it internationally.

“It was funny – after he got the first hundred I said ‘it’s a habit now’ and he had true belief in it. You could see a different look in his eyes, it was like ‘not only do I belong, but I’ve got this’.

“You don’t know what you’ve got until you’ve achieved it. All of a sudden, he’s away, his international career is flying and he’s in the record books forever.”

England’s two wins have taken some pressure off Mott after their group-stage exit at the 50-over World Cup and ODI series defeat to the West Indies.

“I’ve been around the game a long time and I know it’s like the share market, your stocks go up and down all the time,” the Australian added.

“When you get into coaching, you realise you shouldn’t take too much credit for the success and not too much blame for the failures.”

England have been caught off guard by Jofra Archer returning from injury at the weekend, with the fast bowler taking four for 18 in the Barbados Cricket Association league.

Archer joined England on the Caribbean island where he was born and raised and took part in some bowling drills on Friday as he continues his rehabilitation from the latest setback in his right elbow.

It is understood he flew back to the UK on Sunday evening but not before turning out a few hours earlier for his old school side Foundation on day one of their three-day fixture against Lords in division one of the BCA league.

But it seems he did so without England’s knowledge as director of men’s cricket Rob Key was surprised upon being informed of Archer’s appearance in the second tier of Barbados’ club structure.

“I’m not aware of that – I’ll find out,” said Key.

A scorecard on the Barbados Cricket website lists Archer as the pick of the bowlers as Lords were bowled out for 114 at Church Hill.

The Cricketer website reported one of his wickets was via left-arm spin, while he contributed 11 with the bat as Foundation went to stumps on 78 for eight. Days two and three will take place next weekend but Archer returning home looks likely to preclude his involvement for the remainder of the game.

The 28-year-old’s last professional appearance was in May, ruled out of the Ashes by a recurrence of a stress fracture in a right elbow that has caused persistent problems since his breakout year in 2019.

More soreness meant he spent just three days in Mumbai after being named as England’s only “travelling reserve” for the World Cup but he was awarded a two-year central contract in October.

England do not want to rush Archer back and have denied him permission to enter the Indian Premier League auction, with a view to easing him back, possibly for the 2024 T20 World Cup in June.

“Jofra was bowling out here,” Key added. “As you often see with Jofra, he rocks up, ends up bowling 95 miles an hour and he looks like he’s an absolute genius.

“But we’re just going to take it slow with him. We don’t want to put any sort of deadlines on him. That’s what we’ve done in the past, we’re trying to learn from what we’ve done in the past with Jofra.

“Actually now we’re taking control of him coming back. We’re not going to say, ‘you need to get back for this part here’. From what they’ve said, an elbow injury is a complicated place to have an injury.

“Jofra was keen to go into the IPL auction but we just feel like the best way to do this now is just for us to be in control of it. There’s no commitment either way, and we can then just bring you back.

“If it takes an extra couple of months, but he gets another couple of years out of his career and gets back fully – I think he’s worth his while in gold.”

John Turner is bidding to push his case for a spot in England’s T20 World Cup title defence during the upcoming tour of the Caribbean.

Turner made his T20 bow less than six months ago but flourished for Hampshire in the Vitality Blast with 21 wickets in 11 matches, leading to a maiden England call-up towards the end of the summer.

A side strain delayed his debut but England remain keen on the 22-year-old and named him in both white-ball squads to face the West Indies, who will co-host the 2024 T20 World Cup alongside the United States.

His selection next summer would be a surprise given those ahead of him in the pecking order, but a woeful 50-over World Cup means England’s established players cannot take their places for granted.

Having been fast-tracked into the England set-up, though, Turner – born and raised in Johannesburg – is trying to take everything in his stride ahead of a potentially pivotal next few weeks in his career.

“All I can do is give my best performances and make life hard for the selectors when it comes to the time for the World Cup – but it definitely does give me some focus,” Turner told the PA news agency.

“Naturally after a World Cup, there will be some form of change – some years more than others. There’s quite an exciting crop of players coming through. It’s quite an exciting time for English cricket.

“Obviously the World Cup was massively disappointing for everyone but, with disappointment, it opens the door for new opportunities and new ways for things to be done.”

Turner, who qualifies for England through a Zambian mother born to English parents, is looking to be a point of difference among fast bowlers with Jofra Archer and Mark Wood absent in the Caribbean.

He describes his pace as his biggest asset even though his action by one former coach was likened to Glenn McGrath, whose precision control of line and length made him one of all-time great fast bowlers.

“It’s obviously an unbelievable comparison to have,” Turner said. “If I was half the bowler he was, I think I’m doing very well.

“I’m not necessarily a traditional English bowler that’s going to try to swing it away and nick you off, I’m just going to try and hit a hard length, be consistent there and bowl as fast as I can.

“I’ve got some variations. During the season, I didn’t necessarily go to them as much as I would have thought, but I’ve got some things to go to when I’m under the pump.

“So far the ride for me has been really positive. It could go horribly wrong but having the backing of everyone and particularly England at the moment gives me massive confidence.”

Turner grew up idolising South Africa great Dale Steyn and sees a bit of the fiery former quick in himself.

“The way he bowled with the aggression, the pace, the ability and everything… he wore his heart on his sleeve and that’s something I probably do, to a certain degree,” Turner said.

Turner has spent the past couple of weeks on an England Lions winter training camp in Abu Dhabi but could make his international bow as part of a new-look ODI side in Antigua on Sunday.

“It would be really emotional and a massive day for me,” Turner added, when asked about the prospect of a first England appearance on this trip.

“Growing up, you’re always wanting to play international cricket and on the biggest stage in the world – that’s what this is. Hopefully just the start of quite a long journey.”

Rovman Powell, Alzarri Joseph and Jason Holder are among several West Indies players released by their respective Indian Premier League franchises as the player retention window for the league closed on Monday.

Powell was released by the Delhi Capitals, while Joseph and Odean Smith were the players released by the Gujarat Titans. Holder and Obed McCoy were let go by the Rajasthan Royals, who have retained Shimron Hetmyer on their roster for the 2024 season.

Meanwhile, the Kolkata Knight Riders released Johnson Charles while retaining the services of Andre Russell and Sunil Narine for the coming season.

Akeal Hosein was released by the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Jofra Archer will also be looking for a new franchise after being let go by the Mumbai Indians who have also traded Romario Shepherd to Mumbai Indians while the Lucknow Super Giants have retained Nicholas Pooran and Kyle Mayers.

Jofra Archer, Harry Brook and Adil Rashid have joined the growing number of England players who will not take part in next year’s Indian Premier League.

Archer has been released by Mumbai Indians, along with his replacement Chris Jordan, while Brook and Rashid have been released by Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Archer took just two wickets in five matches for Mumbai earlier this year before being sidelined.

The 28-year-old returned to India to continue his rehabilitation from an elbow injury alongside England’s World Cup squad, but was not considered to replace Reece Topley after his fellow fast bowler suffered a broken finger.

England Test captain Ben Stokes announced on Thursday he would not be available for the IPL.

Stokes was purchased by Chennai Super Kings for £1.65million last December, but struggled with his fitness and played only twice for his new franchise in the 2023 tournament.

Stokes is due for surgery on a longstanding knee injury to ensure he is fit for England’s five-match Test series with India which begins in January.

Joe Root followed the lead of Stokes two days later, confirming he would not join up with a Rajasthan Royals squad which contains England white-ball captain Jos Buttler next year.

England have slowed down plans for Jofra Archer’s return after he experienced soreness in his troublesome right elbow.

Archer has suffered several years of injury trouble and has not played competitively since May, when he suffered a recurrence of a stress fracture in his bowling arm while at the Indian Premier League.

His recovery had been going well enough for England selector Luke Wright to identify him as a “travelling reserve” for the World Cup, but he ended up spending less than three days with the squad in Mumbai last month.

On his only day of training, at the Wankhede Stadium, he reported discomfort during a very brief bowling spell and was immediately sent for scans. They showed no new problems but he was immediately ruled out of replacing the injured Reece Topley and also taken out of contention for next month’s white-ball tour of his native West Indies.

That trip had looked ideal as a comeback for the 28-year-old but Rob Key, England’s director of men’s cricket, explained they are adopting a cautious approach with a player who has been more spoken about than seen on the pitch since his breakout year of 2019.

“He had his scans and it was all clear. Then he comes here, bowls, and felt pain in his elbow,” said Key.

“So then the view was this is going to be a risk too far; send him back rather than keep him hanging around. He might well be (in the West Indies) but until he’s ready and fit he won’t be in the squad. Even then he’ll need a period of building up.

“Elbows, from what everyone says, are a tricky part of the body that you don’t want to get wrong.”

Archer signed a new two-year central contract in the latest round of deals, having been offered three, and Key makes no apology for the continued investment in a player with such a troubling fitness record.

“We take a bet with Jofra, because of the upside. That’s what lures you in,” he said.

“Who’s the best with the new ball? Jofra Archer. Who’s the best in the middle? Jofra Archer. Who’s the best at the death? Jofra Archer.

“It’s the Ashes in two years, the T20 World Cup in the summer…you don’t want to risk rushing something and kibosh the rest of his career.”

Jofra Archer may be England’s only travelling reserve to India for the World Cup but Matthew Mott is aware another misstep with the fast bowler’s fitness could have “serious ramifications”.

The recurrence of a stress fracture in Archer’s right elbow sidelined him for the summer and ultimately kept him out of England’s 15-man squad for the defence of their title, which gets under way next week.

Archer is part of the touring party as cover and a tantalising option if injury strikes, even if it is anticipated he will not be ready to make his return until the tournament is close to a conclusion.

Given the repeated setbacks he has had since a breakout 2019, when he was entrusted with bowling the super over that led to England being crowned world champions, Mott will not take any risks with the 28-year-old.

“Jofra is not fit to play until the latter stages of the tournament,” England’s white-ball head coach said. “A lot of where he’s coming from is to get some intensive work with our medical staff.

“We have been very big on not rushing him back and that message has been clear to him.

“He understands – he’s desperate to play but he’s also realistic that if this thing happens again it could have serious ramifications.

“We’ll take him over there, work with him and if something happens at the back end, he’s someone who could come in.”

England, who head to India on Wednesday night, are not flying out any more supplementary options, with Mott set to act only if and when injury does occur and bring in a like-for-like alternative.

Jason Roy, having been culled from the squad in favour of Harry Brook, has made himself available for reserve duty, while Mott has urged everyone who was part of the shadow England side that beat Ireland in a rain-affected ODI series – where Will Jacks and Ben Duckett impressed – to stay on their toes.

“We don’t need to declare where that’s at and we certainly don’t really want to speculate on it,” Mott said. “Everyone in this group here, and everyone on the periphery, should be maintaining their fitness.

“The flight to India is not that bad and the reality is (if) someone gets called up they are not going to get called straight into the XI. So they’ll have time to adjust and that’s where we arrived.

“Pulling people around India for eight weeks is not going to get the best out of them. Every player should be ready to go.”

Mott revealed Adil Rashid and Mark Wood are both “fine” following niggles, adding he has a “rough idea” of England’s preferred XI ahead of the tournament opener against New Zealand in Ahmedabad on October 5.

England selected 12 players during their 2019 triumph but Mott envisages making more use of his squad given the variety of Indian pitches and conditions, with the defending champions also facing an extensive travel schedule as their nine group-stage matches will be played in eight cities.

“We don’t have any expectations,” Mott said. “A lot of teams are going to contest and expect to do well. We are one of them but I don’t look at it as defending champions.

“We go in with the same points as everyone else. India will be favourites in the minds of many people because of home advantage, but they can go either way as well.”

England’s summer programme finishing on Tuesday brings to an end former captain Andrew Flintoff’s stint, having joined the backroom staff for their ODI series against New Zealand and Ireland.

Flintoff returned to the public eye for the first time since a serious car accident while filming for Top Gear last December and Mott would welcome back the 45-year-old with open arms going forwards.

“He’s definitely going to join us again in future, we’ve loved having him around,” Mott added.

“He’s revered, he’s got an aura about him, he’s very special and what he’s gone through recently, the humility he’s displayed and the life experiences he can share have been immense.

“Even the seasoned Test veterans, they grew up idolising him and to see him in the flesh offering so much has been very special.”

Jofra Archer is “on course” to be fit for England’s 50-over World Cup defence in October, according to Sussex head coach Paul Farbrace.

The 28-year-old fast bowler burst onto the scene to star as England triumphed on home soil four years ago, before playing a key role in the Ashes series that summer.

But injuries have plagued the Sussex bowler since, undergoing several bouts of surgery on his elbow, as well as a stress fracture of the back which derailed his planned comeback last year.

Archer made his first tentative steps towards full recovery earlier this year, featuring in England’s limited-overs tours to South Africa and Bangladesh, before he had to cut short his spell with the Mumbai Indians in the IPL.

He was subsequently ruled out of this summer’s Ashes series back in May due to another stress fracture in his right elbow, but Farbrace says he is making progress as he bids to make the England squad for the tournament in India.

“He’s going well. I think he is on course for the World Cup which is fantastic news,” Farbrace told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“He is going nicely. I think England will need to work out how to get the best out of him over the next few years if he is to go to that next Ashes series.”

Mark Wood has backed fellow England fast bowler Jofra Archer to be fit and ready for a role in this summer’s Ashes.

The pace pair have struggled with serious injury problems over the course of their careers – perhaps unsurprising given their shared ability to hit extreme speeds in excess of 95mph – but are hopeful of taking on Australia in the coming months.

Archer last played Test cricket more than two years ago, spending much of the intervening period battling with a longstanding elbow complaint, and reacted angrily to reports this week that he had recently been forced to undergo a minor procedure on the joint.

He took to Twitter to rebuke revelations that came at a “worrying and troubling time for a player” but he was cleared to play his second IPL game of the season on Saturday and remains in England’s thoughts for their hotly-anticipated series against Australia, which begins in June.

Wood, who is also in India with Lucknow Super Giants, is also hoping to be involved after being ruled out of the whole of last summer’s international programme and expects Archer to be ready too.

“I feel for Jofra actually and I can sympathise with him quite a bit there,” the Durham quick told Sky Sports News.

“You feel like you’re just getting back and then you have a little setback and things happen. The curve’s never in a straight line is it? You know that on the way back you’re going to have bumps along the way. But he’s a champion player and I’m sure he’ll come back and be a champion again.

“I think, reading between the lines, it sounds like it’s not a massive setback that he’s going to have. He has overcome bigger things and I’m sure that he will be ready for the Ashes.

“England aren’t going to be silly with things. They’re going to know they want him for that series and they’re going to be looking ahead. He’ll get great treatment there in Mumbai and England will look after him so that, come the Ashes, he will be mentally and physically ready.”

Wood was one of the few visiting players who enhanced his reputation during England’s humbling 4-0 defeat Down Under in 2021-22 and is sure it will be a much closer contest this time around.

“I think Australia are a world-class team and I think it will be a great series,” he said.

“This (England) team is capable of achieving great things and I wouldn’t want to put any marker on it and say we can’t do anything, or set the bar at any sort of level, because I think this team can really achieve great things.”

A high-scoring affair in the Indian Premier League ended with Punjab Kings claiming a 13-run victory over Mumbai Indians on Saturday.

Harpreet Singh Bhatia and Sam Curran's 92-run partnership set the Kings on their way to setting a target of 215, which Mumbai briefly looked like they could knock off until Arshdeep Singh's supreme final over.

After hitting Cameron Green for four in the third over, Punjab opener Matthew Short (11) went after his fellow Australian again next ball and ended up finding only the safe hands of Piyush Chawla (2-15).

Prabhsimran Singh was going well before a swinging yorker from Arjun Tendulkar trapped him lbw for 26, while Chawla claimed both Liam Livingstone (10) and Atharva Taide (29).

The Kings' run rate slowed right down after that flurry of wickets, but Bhatia (41) and captain Curran (55) steadied the ship before stepping on the accelerator in the 16th over, hitting 31 runs from it, and a further 26 from the next nine deliveries before Bhatia played a Green ball onto his own stumps.

Curran reached his half-century before falling to England team-mate Jofra Archer (1-42), though Jitesh Sharma arrived and shone brightly but briefly as he hit 25 from just seven balls, before being bowled by Jason Behrendorff in the final over as the Kings finished on 214-8.

Ishan Kishan (1) fell early in reply, but Rohit Sharma and Green put on a partnership of 76 to take a chunk out of the imposing target.

Livingstone eventually removed Rohit for 44, caught and bowled from a sloppy shot, but Suryakumar Yadav picked up where his captain left off with a fiery innings.

Green smashed 67 from 43 balls before a slower delivery from Nathan Ellis saw him find the safe hands of Curran, but Suryakumar kept going, reaching his 50 from just 23 balls, though after getting his team back in the game, he was gone after hitting Arshdeep (4-29) straight to Taide for 57.

Tim David (25 from 13) forced a reachable final over chase, with Mumbai needing 16, but a superb six balls from Arshdeep, including two more wickets, ended any hopes as they could only manage 201-6.

Curran and Bhatia lay the table for success

It was very smart play by Curran and Bhatia to lay a calm foundation before piling on the runs, with their 92-run partnership the second-highest for the fifth wicket by a Kings duo in IPL history.

Punjab scored 96 runs off their last five overs, with only Royal Challengers Bangalore having struck more in the last five overs of an innings in IPL history (112 vs Gujarat Lions, May 2016).

Rohit reaches 250

It was a noble effort from Mumbai Indians as they chased a big target, with Green and Suryakumar making impressive contributions, though it was Rohit who achieved a notable landmark.

He became just the third batter and first Indian to reach 250 sixes in the IPL after Chris Gayle (357) and AB de Villiers (251). He is also just one maximum away from becoming just the second player to reach 200 maximums for Mumbai in the competition after Kieron Pollard (223).

Should Jofra Archer be selected for this year's Ashes series, he will likely be playing his first red-ball cricket in over two years.

Archer is set to represent Mumbai Indians in the IPL, which culminates on May 28, with the first Test between England and Australia taking place at Edgbaston on June 16.

England have a Test scheduled against Ireland on June 1, but should Mumbai go far in the IPL, it is unlikely Archer would be available.

The pace bowler, who turns 28 on Saturday, has not played a Test match for England since a 10-wicket defeat to India in Ahmedabad in February 2021, with his last first-class game for Sussex being in May 2021 against Kent.

Elbow and back injuries kept him on the sidelines for 17 months, but he returned to white-ball cricket in January.

Sussex head coach Paul Farbrace believes England's plan is for Archer to be ready for the Ashes after the end of the IPL.

"I think all things being equal, he will go straight into the Ashes off the back of the IPL," Farbrace told BBC Radio Sussex.

"The England plan for Jofra is he'll go and play in the IPL.

"I think their plan is that between IPL games he'll then bowl some longer spells to get his overs up and make sure that he is match-ready.

"That's the nature of international franchise cricket these days. I know there'll be a lot of people saying 'he should play at least two four-day games to be ready for a Test match', but the preparation and the work that the medical teams do around these players is exceptional."

Archer dampened expectations of significant involvement against Australia in early March, telling reporters: "If I can play one [Test] this summer, I'll be happy. If I play more than one, that's just a bonus."

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