Wicket No. 700... and Anderson is not done yet

With the series done and dusted, it was time for coach Rahul Dravid and England’s skipper Ben Stokes, here on Saturday, to reflect on the fiveTest series.

After India’s emphatic inningsand64run victory on the third day, Dravid shared his views.

“We dominated this match. We were in control here all the way. But the first four Tests, there were periods when they did put us under a little bit of pressure.”

“There were days, particularly the third day in both Rajkot and in Ranchi, when England had the ascendancy in the morning. The heartening thing for me was how well our experienced players stepped up in those situations. England came here with an experienced batting lineup. Their inexperience was in bowling. . Our experience was in bowling and we won those contests. That was a critical part of the series.”

On his part, Stokes said, “We came here with very high hopes and confidence about what we could achieve.

“It started off very well but obviously losing the series 41, not just myself but the team is big enough to say we've been completely outplayed in the last four games. Whenever we managed to wrestle back any type of momentum with the ball or bat, India were always able to then put it back on to us.”

With the snowcapped Dhauladhar mountain ranges providing a stunning backdrop here, James Anderson, 41, scaled ‘Mount 700’ to permanently etch his name among the greats of the game.

Precisely 15 minutes into the third day’s play on Saturday, the dismissal of Kuldeep Yadav signalled the end of Anderson’s wait. The ball kissed the outside edge of Kuldeep’s bat and wicketkeeper Ben Foakes completed the dismissal. This was the moment of the day for Anderson, England and their supporters.

On his debut against Zimbabwe in May 2003, Anderson began his wickettally by bowling Mark Vermeulen at Lord’s and gradually became the most reliable newball weapon in the English armoury.

Third to reach the mark

Playing his 187th Test, Anderson became only the third bowler — following spinners Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Shane Warne (708) — to take 700 Test wickets.

Since surpassing Australian Glenn McGrath’s careertally of 563 wickets when he dismissed Mohammad Shami at The Oval in September 2018, Anderson remains the highest Test wickettaker among fast bowlers.

The main reason for Anderson’s longevity in Tests is his decision to stay focused on redball cricket.

He played the last of his 194 ODIs against Afghanistan in March 2015 and finished with 269 wickets.

In fact, his T20 career lasted just 19 matches for 18 wickets and ended in 2009. In Test cricket, Anderson has three 10wicket matchhauls and 32 fivewicket performances.

These numbers could change since Anderson is not done yet.

Picture this. You are chasing 191 to win. Two of your marquee players have brought the ask down from 70 runs needed off 26 balls to 23 needed off the last 12. Just as the nervous energy peaks in the stadium, the sprinkler system comes on.

This was how bizarre proceedings were at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here in what turned out to be a humdinger between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Giants. Harmanpreet Kaur (95 n.o, 48b, 10x4, 5x6) was a player possessed as she carried MI to a memorable sevenwicket win.

Positive start

Yastika Bhatia (49, 36b, 8x4, 1x6) and Hayley Matthews began positively, but the Giants made early inroads. Shabnam Shakil snapped up Nat SciverBrunt for her maiden WPL wicket, leaving MI with a little over 90 runs to get with 6.3 overs left.

Mooney tried her best to contain Harmanpreet, who was already riled up courtesy some sloppy fielding from her teammates, but in vain.

A 19run over from Meghna Singh helped the 35yearold sink her teeth into the wicket. With the equation down to 65 from 24, Harmanpreet maximised a Shabnam over to get 18 runs on the board with Kerr, after which she took Sneh Rana to the cleaners, scoring 24 runs

GUJARAT GIANTS

Laura Wolvaardt b Matthews 13 (14b, 3x4), Beth Mooney b Sajana 66 (35b, 8x4, 3x6), D. Hemalatha c Amanjot b Ismail 74 (40b, 9x4, 2x6), Phoebe Litchfield c Harmanpreet b Saika 3 (4b), Ashleigh Gardner b Pooja 1 (3b), Bharti Fulmali (not out) 21 (13b, 1x4, 1x6), Kathryn Bryce run out 7 (8b, 1x4), Sneh Rana c Amanjot b Saika 1 (2b), Tanuja Kanwar (not out) 0 (1b); Extras (lb3, w1): 4; Total (for seven wkts. in 20 overs): 190.

FALL OF WICKETS

118 (Wolvaardt, 2.5 overs), 2139 (Mooney, 13.1), 3152 (Litchfield, 14.3), 4159 (Gardner, 15.4), 5163 (Hemalatha, 16.4), 6179 (Bryce, 18.6), 7181 (Sneh, 19.3).

MUMBAI INDIANS BOWLING Matthews 30221, Ismail 40301, Saika 40312, SciverBrunt 20230, Pooja 40451, Amanjot 10100, Kerr 10150, Sajana 10111.

MUMBAI INDIANS

Yastika Bhatia c & b Gardner 49 (36b, 8x4, 1x6), Hayley Matthews c Sneh b Tanuja 18 (21b, 4x4), Nat SciverBrunt c Sneh b Shabnam 2 (4b), Harmanpreet Kaur (not out) 95 (48b, 10x4, 5x6), Amelia Kerr (not out) 12 (10b, 1x6); Extras (b4, lb4, w7): 15; Total (for three wkts. in 19.5 overs): 191.

FALL OF WICKETS

150 (Matthews, 6.3), 257 (SciverBrunt, 7.3), 398 (Yastika, 13.3).

GIANTS BOWLING

Gardner 3.50221, Bryce 20240, Tanuja 40211, Meghna 30370, Shabnam 30311, Sneh 40480.

Toss: Gujarat Giants.

Mumbai Indians won by seven wickets with one ball to spare.

Sunday’s match: Delhi Capitals vs. Royal Challengers, 7.30 p.m.