James Anderson after dismissing Shai Hope
Veteran England fast bowler James Anderson on Saturday became his nation's highest wicket-taker against West Indies in Test cricket. Anderson achieved the feat during the second evening of the third and deciding Test against Jason Holder's men at the Old Trafford Cricket ground in Manchester.
Anderson took his tally of wickets against West Indies to 86 on day 3 of the third Test after dismissing Shai Hope and Shamarh Brooks on either side of the Tea break.
Hope, who has been struggling all through the series, was left absolutely hopeless against the Anderson special - a peach of delivery angled in as Hope looked to play the ball, but it made a late movement away from the batsman, thereby squaring him up and taking the outside edge that landed comfortably in the hands of Jos Buttler. For Brooks, it was the wobbling seam that did the damage. He was on is backfoot against the scrambled seam as the ball moved back in to take the inside edge and rattle against the stumps. The back-to-back dismissal on either side of the break reduced the visitors to four down with still a 300-plus chase to cover.
Anderson hence surpassed Fred Truman to become the leading wicket-taker in the rivalry contest and subsequently England's highest wicket-taker against West Indies. Overall, he is the third-highest wicket-taker against the opposition after Australia's Glenn McGrath (110) and India's Kapil Dev (89).
The feat also implies that Anderson is now England's highest wicket-taker against five different oppositions - India (110 wickets), Pakistan (63 wickets), South Africa (93), Sri Lanka (52) and West Indies. Meanwhile, he is second-highest against Zimbabwe (11 wickets), joint third-highest against New Zealand (60 wickets) and joint seventh-highest against Australia (104 wickets).
