England’s James Anderson became the first bowler to take 600 Test Wickets when he dismissed Pakistan’s Captain Azhar Ali on the fifth day of the third & final Test match between two teams at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton.
Anderson had taken a five-wicket haul in Pakistan’s first innings & he returned in their second innings to pick Abid Ali & Azhar after the visitors were made to follow on. Only Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne and Anil Kumble had previously broken the 600 wicket barrier in the longest format of cricket making Anderson fourth player with 600 wickets mark.
“600 Test Wickets for Jimmy Anderson. He becomes the first fast bowler to ever reach the mark! #ENGvPAK #ICC”, ICC tweeted to congratulate James Anderson. Anderson who has made his Test Debut in 2003 against Zimbabwe & had become the highest wicket-taker among other seamers in 2018, when he dismissed Mohammed Shami against India at The Oval to go past Glenn McGrath’s tally of 563 Test wickets.
After a disappointing start in the First Test of the series there were en number of talks of the veteran pacer announcing his retirement a rumor which he dismissed quickly. With the backing of Captain Joe Root James has fetched three wickets in the second Test as Pakistan crumbled for 236 after winning the toss and choosing to bat. Rain and bad light meant the match ended in a draw with both teams playing just one innings each.
In the third Test match after Zak Crawley converted his maiden International Century into a double century & Jos Butler scored his second Test century to give England a good & imposing first innings total suddenly Anderson ripped through Pakistan’s top order, claiming the first four wickets.
After a knock from Azhar Ali who found solid support in Mohammad Rizwan – kept England at bay for a while, Anderson came back remove Naseem Shah to wrap the innings up and take his 29th five-wicket haul.
