ENG vs SA: James Anderson becomes first pacer to complete 950 international wickets

James Anderson went past Glenn Mcgrath’s record of 949 international wickets.

James Anderson will go down in history as one of the best fast bowlers to have played the game, and the veteran seamer came up with a stunning achievement against South Africa in the ongoing Test series. The seamer, who turned 40 a few weeks back, became the first-ever fast bowler to pick up 950 international wickets. He achieved the historic feat during the recently-concluded second Test against South Africa.

Anderson picked up three-wicket hauls in both first and second innings in the Manchester Test to go past the record held by Glenn Mcgrath. The Australian legend picked up 949 international wickets in his career and Anderson has gone one step further now. Only, Anil Kumble (956), Shane Warne (1001), and Muttiah Muralidharan (1347) have more international wickets than Anderson and the England seamer is the only active bowler on the list.

Anderson has played so far played 174 Tests, 194 ODIs and 19 T20Is since his international debut in 2002 and has taken 664, 269 and 18 wickets in the respective formats. He has been playing just the longer format for his country since the 2015 World Cup and looking fitter to play for some more years in Tests at least.

England level series after a thumping win at Manchester

Meanwhile, England made a strong comeback in the ongoing Test series against South Africa by clinching the second Test at Manchester by a big margin and have levelled the series 1-1. After bowling out the visitors for 151 in the first innings, England posted a huge total of 415 for 9 in their first innings with Ben Foakes and Ben Stokes both scoring centuries.

The huge lead meant that the visitors needed a miracle batting performance to turn the game in their favour and it wasn’t the case. The likes of Anderson and Ollie Robinson picked up seven wickets combined to make sure South Africa couldn’t get up from the slide and were bundled up for 179 in the second innings. The hosts won by an innings and 85 runs while Stokes was rewarded the Player of the Match for his all-round display.