Day to remember for James at Old Trafford
JAMES ANDERSON displayed a neat sense of occasion yesterday against South Africa as his best Old Trafford Test bowling figures arrived when bowling from the end named in his honour.
Anderson excelled first as a No.11 batsman before returning to his day job as England’s all-time leading wickettaker, picking up four for 33 on day two of the fourth Investec Test.
He helped Jonny Bairstow to 99 as the pair added 50 for the last wicket in England’s 362 all out. And it then took the experienced paceman only three deliveries from the James Anderson End to have Dean Elgar lbw for a duck.
After a quiet middle session in which the hosts managed two wickets, Anderson returned to take three more for six runs as South Africa stumbled towards 220 for nine at stumps.
It was Bairstow who first lit up the Manchester crowd with some brilliant strokeplay as he made South Africa pay for a missed chance which would have ended England’s innings on 312, had wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock held a regulation catch when he was on 53.
He went on to produce a masterclass of batting with the tail alongside Anderson – who could muster only four runs but kept out 15 deliveries, while Bairstow came up with a series of increasingly inventive and powerful shots among his 14 fours and a six over long-off.
Destiny was Anderson’s, though, on this occasion – and he was not about to disappoint his home crowd.
In his two overs before lunch, he quickly brought about the dismissal of Elgar – a centurion at The Oval only five days previously.
Then, after Toby Roland-Jones had bagged Hashim Amla for the third time in succession, caught behind off a delivery down the leg side, and Moeen Ali equalled his best of 19 wickets in a series when Heino Kuhn edged low to slip in an often dour afternoon, it was back to Anderson after tea.
Amla’s dismissal was also notable as a consolation ‘century’ for Bairstow, who claimed his 100th victim as England’s Test wicketkeeper – but if he was still hoping to vie with Anderson for top billing, he was soon left behind by a revitalised man of the moment.
Temba Bavuma’s vigil ended four short of 50 when he left one that snaked in just enough to lift the off-bail, and two balls later Anderson got rid of Faf du Plessis too – pushing forward but managing only an edge back on to middle stump.
There was already variable bounce available, and Anderson would have had a third quick wicket had Keaton Jennings clung on to barely a half-chance diving one-handed to his left at third slip from a delivery that bounced and left a scoreless Theunis de Bruyn.
In the next over from Moeen, England would have got De Kock for just a single if Ben Stokes had clung on to another sharp one from an edged cut to slip.
Instead, the next breakthrough came again via Anderson – De Bruyn edging a drive to second slip.
Keshav Maharaj, who had just a single when Bairstow put down a thin edge off Moeen, passed the follow-on by hitting the off-spinner for a six over long-on to ease South Africa’s worries a little before falling plumb lbw to one that turned and hit him on the back foot.
After De Kock then edged Stuart Broad behind, and Ben Stokes pulled off an astounding catch at gully to see off Kagiso Rabada from the last ball of the day, England were truly in control.