• Anderson draws level with Glenn McGrath on 563 Test wickets
The Oval was the place to be. For those who crave records, and cricket fans tend to like them, they came and went with the frequency of ticket touts on the Harleyford Road; for those who like a touch of melodrama there was the fall of three wickets in the final session in the space of six balls at the start of India’s final innings of the tour. Two of them fell to Jimmy Anderson and took him to 563 in Test cricket, the same number as Glenn McGrath.
Perhaps Anderson could surpass the great Australian with the wicket of Virat Kohli, whom he has failed to dismiss in this series despite herculean efforts to do so. No, that was not possible even on a day when his namesake, Hans-Christian, might have been compiling the script because Anderson never got the chance to bowl at Kohli. The Indian captain faced one ball and it was a good one from Stuart Broad. He edged it to Jonny Bairstow behind the stumps. So India were two for three before the fourth over was complete in pursuit, as they say, of 464 for victory. This was not a day to leave early.
Written by Vic Marks at the Kia Oval
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/sep/10/england-india-fifth-test-day-four-report under the title “Alastair Cook makes farewell century as England take control of fifth Test”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
