The chunky, flashy gold chain he sports makes for striking bling, difficult to miss, much like the towering man himself. While the jewellery is quite unique in its glitter - something even the likes of Andre Russell often wear - it is, apparently, deceptively and remarkably light and hollow in reality. On Sunday afternoon, evening and night, it radiated brightly around Jofra Archer's neck. But the player himself shone brighter than that sparkling neckpiece.

He ran hard, dived full length, fielded like a man possessed and even batted like a specialist. But what truly stood out was his bowling. What could have been a routine chase for the Mumbai Indians, who have overhauled 200-plus totals eight times overall and thrice this season, turned into a nightmare. Archer was simply too hot to handle.

"He bowled well. He batted fantastically as well. He is a class act. He has bowled some fiery spells throughout this tournament. And today, not only did he bowl quickly, but he also used his variations, changed the pace and stuff like that," Kieron Pollard analysed Archer's bowling. "He used the leg-cutter pretty well. Even with the new ball, he normally gets it to jag back in. He assessed the conditions quicker than the other bowlers and made the adjustments faster."

That, perhaps, is too simplistic an assessment - the understatement of the day. Archer was not merely fast; he was surreal - fury personified. He unleashed fiery thunderbolts that proved too fast for the Mumbai Indians batters. Steaming in menacingly, he ripped through the MI batting - exactly the kind of havoc the Rajasthan Royals had hoped he would wreak on the opposition.

Rohit Sharma first, Naman Dhir next and Hardik Pandya later - the MI chase was blown to bits during his four unplayable overs. His final analysis of three for 17 in four overs was pure gold, more precious than the one he wears around his neck.

The hot, humid and sultry conditions failed to slow him down. He consistently delivered his fireballs in the 143-147 kmph range. His average pace across four overs was 141.5 kmph, though that figure is slightly deceptive because of the crafty slower deliveries he mixed in to bring about variations. Otherwise, his pace was blazingly rapid, the fastest delivery touching 154.7 kmph - the fifth ball of his second over. The slowest was 122.8 kmph, bowled in his fourth over, the 16th of the innings. There were only three slower ones in his four overs. Archer would later reveal that he was advised by coach Kumar Sangakkara not to take pace off.

Archer had been rather uncharacteristically unexceptional in the last few games, lacking control over his line, if not his pace. In one match (versus Gujarat Titans), he was none for 46; in another (versus DC), he was one for 46; and in the previous must-win game against (versus LSG), he was one for 39, with economy rates well above his career mark of 8.77.

But in this must-win contest, he had control not only over his pace, line and swing, but also over his variations. He bowled a few clever leg-cutters and largely stuck to an off-stump line. Only two boundaries - both in his second over - came off his 24 deliveries, 13 of which were dot balls. He bowled the majority of his deliveries at Test length, giving away very little breathing room.

"I think there was a little bit of pressure on Jofra to try and get us wickets all the time. Sometimes he was trying a little too hard. But even in the last game, he went for 20-odd (24) in his first two overs and then bowled the last two for 12-odd (15) - some ridiculously low number. All our chats were about that powerplay: hold the lines, hold the lengths, hold your nerve," Sangakkara said, explaining his performance in the previous games.

The coach reflected on Archer's discipline and his impact on the team. "We all know that Jofra can bowl fast. We know he's had a really tough workload. But what I love about Jofra is the leadership he shows and the amount of investment he has in our franchise. Anyone can say, 'Oh, I'm a little bit tired, it's hot,' whatever.

"But he never complains. He just runs in day after day, trains really well and trains hard. We also make sure he gets enough rest during the eight-day breaks. Every player needs a break. It's a long tournament. But Jofra will bowl fast, swing the ball and take wickets. But to top it all off, when he gives so much back to the side and his teammates, that's incredible because it lifts everyone else as well."

Archer did actually lift the team's spirits. Before the start of the game, RR would have hoped for a big contribution with the bat from their prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and with the ball from Archer. Sooryavanshi failed on the occasion as did a few other regular batters. Archer then stepped up with the bat.

His 32 off 15 deliveries at a strike rate of 213.33, batting at No 7, provided the much-needed momentum for the side which finished with a challenging total of 205 for eight. He smashed three sixes in that knock and one flat hit over square leg off Shardul Thakur would have made any specialist batter proud.

"I thought today it was a pretty good pitch, a little bit slow to start off with, but the way Jofra went in and batted was outstanding. He's actually quite a capable batter. He's not really a No. 8 when he puts his mind to it. He's a proper batter who has a lot of power and a lot of sense," Sangakkara said.

The best part of his performance was its timing. He scored those 32 when the side was in dire straits and claimed the wickets of Rohit and Naman upfront denying MI the blistering start they needed. He then returned to dismiss Pandya, when the MI skipper was threatening to take the match away from RR. It was a performance high on both quality and impact.

"(Jofra is) very invested in the team, helping everyone. Has been our spearhead right from the start. Today, to see the way he bowled, but before that with the bat and really take us to the qualification, that was an exceptional effort from Jofra," Sangakkara said.