Twitterati heap praises on ageless James Anderson as England pacer takes five-fer in Lord’s Test
Anderson is certainly ageing like fine wine.
Shattering the stereotypes, a 39-year-old James Anderson made the red cherry talk in the second Test against India and took a sensational five-wicket haul at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Stadium. It was indeed an exhibition of high-class fast bowling as Indian batters fared well at the Mecca of Cricket. Openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul scored in excess of 80 as India were cruising towards a mammoth total.
However, Anderson had different ideas as he kept England in the hunt with a fiery spell. It was the veteran pacer only who drew the first blood by dismissing Rohit Sharma for 83. The likes of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane also fall prey to the star bowler. Subsequently, the Lancashire-born pacer scalped his 31st five-wicket haul in Test matches.
James Anderson runs through India’s batting order
Riding on his prowess, England bundled India out for 364 runs. Notably, India, at one stage, were 276/3 and a total of 400 was looking bare minimum. However, Anderson’s brilliance dented their plans. It also allowed the Three Lions to forge a comeback in this contest.
As far as the happenings of the match are concerned, England skipper Joe Root won the toss and elected to bat first with the conditions being overcast. However, the decision didn’t seem to be spot on as Indian openers tackled the new ball with utmost precision. The duo added 126 runs for the first wicket to put India on command.
However, the contest spiced up when Anderson dismissed Rohit and Pujara in quick succession. Nevertheless, Rahul joined forces with skipper Virat Kohli and the duo continued India’s dominance. In the process, Rahul also advanced to his sixth Test ton. However, things changed after pacer Ollie Robinson dismissed Kohli on the brink of the first day’s play.
Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane departed early on Day 2 as the Three Lions were back in the hunt. Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja did play some fine shots and took India’s total over 350 runs. However, there wasn’t any significant contribution from other batters as India were restricted to 364 runs. While Ollie Robinson and Moeen Ali also played their part well, Anderson was the wreaker-in-chief for England.
Here’s how Twitterati hailed the veteran England pacer:
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