Jofra Archer is now the fastest bowler to take 50 ODI wickets for England.

The ace pacer achieved the feat during the England men’s cricket team’s Group B clash against Afghanistan in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan on Wednesday.

Archer, who will be a part of the Rajasthan Royals squad for IPL 2025, bowled Afghanistan opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the fifth over of the contest to pick up his 50th ODI scalp in 30 matches.

The 29-year-old Archer surpassed England legend James Anderson, who reached 50 wickets in 31 ODI matches back in 2002.

Fastest to 50 ODI wickets for England

Rank

Player

Matches

Opposition

Date

1

Jofra Archer

30

Afghanistan

26 February, 2025

2

James Anderson

31

West Indies

15 December, 2002

3

Steve Harmison

32

Australia

17 December, 2002

4

Steven Finn

33

New Zealand

30 January, 2011

5

Darren Gough

34

New Zealand

19 May, 1994

6

Stuart Broad

34

South Africa

30 August, 2006

7

James Tredwell

35

Sri Lanka

2 March, 2010

8

Liam Plunkett

37

Sri Lanka

10 December, 2005

9

Adil Rashid

37

Bangladesh

27 August, 2009

10

Alan Mullally

38

West Indies

29 August, 1996

Overall, Sri Lanka’s Ajantha Mendis holds the record for being the fastest bowler to 50 ODI wickets, reaching the milestone in 19 matches.

Archer’s explosive opening spell also saw him dismiss Sediqullah Atal and Rahmat Shah to put Afghanistan on the backfoot early on by reducing them to 37/3.

However, Afghanistan managed to recover and went on to post a formidable total of 325/7 at the end of their 50 overs.

Archer finished with figures of 3/64 and was the pick of the bowlers for England in the match.

Photo: ICC