FIRST INVESTEC TEST

ENGLAND eased themselves into a dominant position at Lord’s thanks to old warhorse James Anderson.

It is hard to remember how many times Anderson has put his body on the line for his country and produced something out of nothing, but he did it again to conjure a wicket just before the close of day two.

The skills of Stuart Broad and Moeen Ali had already made it England’s day, but with an old ball in his hands on a flat pitch and the sun shining, the 34-year-old struck to send his team into the pavilion with a spring in their step.

It has been a frustrating few months for Anderson getting over a variety of injuries and going wicketless in his last two Test matches in India.

But Theunis de Bruyn couldn’t help but edge him through to Jonny Bairstow and leave his team 214-5 at the close, still 244 runs behind.

De Bruyn had battled hard for his 48 as he and Temba Bavuma tried to rescue the Proteas from 104-4 in the face of England’s 458 all out, but his wicket has tilted the game in a big way.

Ali said: “It was a huge wicket with the new ball round corner.

“We were struggling to find a way to get them out then Jimmy does what he does best at crucial time, he is just a brilliant bowler.

“I didn’t realise he hadn’t taken wickets recently, but even when not taking wickets, he bowls tight and he bowled really well today.”

Anderson also played his part in the morning, joining Broad in a

HANDS UP FOR JIMMY Anderson takes the plaudits after his late dismissal of De Bruyn swung things England’s way MOEEN ALI isn’t always the first all-rounder people think of in the England team but he is definitely one of the first names down on the...