India vs England: James Anderson becomes only bowler after Muttiah Muralitharan to take 100 Test wickets at a venue
James Anderson became the first bowler to take 100 Test wickets at Lord’s when he had Murali Vijay caught behind for a duck on Day 4 of the second Test between India and England.
England pace spearhead James Anderson achieved a personal milestone in the second Test against India after becoming the first to claim 100 wickets at Lord’s on Sunday.
Anderson, 36, playing in his 141st Test, and 23rd at Lords, had India opener Murali Vijay caught behind off the inside edge to hit a bowling century at the iconic venue. Vijay bagged a pair, having been dismissed by Anderson in the first innings as well.
At lunch, Anderson had figures of two wickets for eight runs in five overs after KL Rahul, India’s other opener, was lbw for 10. India were fighting to save the second Test after England declared their first innings on 396/7, with Chris Woakes finishing on an unbeaten 137.
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Anderson returned sensational figures of 5/20 in the first innings, his sixth five-wicket innings haul at Lord’s, leaving him one short of becoming the first to hit the 100-mark. His pace partner Stuart Broad, second in that Lord’s honours list, had 79 victims before India’s second innings started.
The England players gave Anderson a sort of guard of honour as he held up the match ball to the crowd, receiving a standing ovation.
The England swing bowler hit a round 550 scalps with Vijay wicket, and his next target will be to surpass Aussie Glenn McGrath’s mark of 563 and become the most successful pace bowler of all time. McGrath is fourth in the list of most Test wicket-takers, behind Muttiah Muralitharan (800), Shane Warne (708) and Anil Kumble (619).
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The record for most victims at a single venue is held by Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, who has taken a whopping 166 scalps at Colombo’s Singhalese Sports Club Ground. The next two also belongs to the man who holds the record for most Test scalps – 117 in Kandy’s Asgiriya stadium and 111 at Galle.
Sri Lanka’s leading current spinner, Rangana Herath is one short of completing his century at Galle.
