Jimmy Anderson surpassed Glenn McGrath as the highest wicket-taking pace bowler in history to help England secure victory at The Oval against India.
Anderson picked up the final wicket of the Indian innings after a gruelling bowling day. After claiming two wickets before the close of play last night, many expected Anderson and the English bowling attack to rapidly dismiss the rest of the struggling Indian batting order today, but it wasn’t to be.
The Indian batsmen put up some resistance in the final innings of the final Test but it proved too little too late as England managed to bowl them out with 118 runs to spare. The 204-run partnership between KL Rahul (149 off 224 balls) and Rishabh Pant (114 off 146 balls, 15×4, 4×6) had England slightly concerned as the two Indians frustrated the English attack while accumulating runs quickly. The two were the standout contributors to what will go down as the best of all the Indian innings throughout the series, but England were able to hold their nerve throughout the day and finally secured a 118-run victory to win the Test series 4-1.
Anderson (3-45) was delighted when he finally surpassed McGrath’s record by dismissing Mohammed Shami with a beauty that flattened the No 10’s middle stump – an Anderson special to help him become the most prolific pace bowler in history with his 564 wickets. He couldn’t keep his emotions back as he shared how happy he was to reach the milestone with his close friend, Alastair Cook, still on the field.
Photo: Stu Forster/Getty Images
