England vs West Indies 3rd Test Day 3: Anderson’s seven-for hands England 2-1 series win

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James Anderson England win 2-1 West Indies cricket

James Anderson led the way as England won the series 2-1

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

James Anderson proved to be a nightmare with the ball as he sycthed his way through the West Indies’ batting line-up to lead England to a nine-wicket win on the third day of the third Test at Lord’s.

Anderson’s figures of 7/42 are his best in Test cricket as he surpassed the 7/43 he took against New Zealand at Trent Bridge in 2008.

Starting off the day on 93/3, West Indies batsman Roston Chase was caught behind off the bowling of Anderson on the fourth ball of the day.

Jermaine Blackwood did not last long at the crease as he made five runs before suffering the same fate as Chase.

Wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich only mustered 14 runs before he was caught by Stuart Broad at short mid-on off the bowling of Toby Roland-Jones.

Shai Hope, who once again looked to be the West Indies’ saviour, was taking the attack to the England bowlers while he lost partner after partner.

However, his time at the crease came to an end when he was caught behind off the bowling of Anderson for 62, which came off 144 balls and included nine boundaries.

Two balls later, Devendra Bishoo was walking back to the pavilion after having his stumps rattled by Anderson.

Broad then joined the party by removing West Indies captain Jason Holder for 23 before the tourists were bowled out for 177, which set England a target of 107 to win, when Kemar Roach was cleaned up by Anderson for three runs.

Anderson was easily the pick of the bowlers with seven wickets, while Broad snapped up two and Roland-Jones chipped in with one.

Chasing 107 to win, England got off to a brisk start before losing opener Alastair Cook, who was given out lbw off the bowling of Bishoo for 17.

From there, it was smooth sailing for England as Mark Stoneman and Tom Westley finished things off with an unbeaten 72-run partnership.

Westley concluded the match on 44 off 72 balls, which included seven boundaries, while Stoneman remained undefeated on 40 off 74 deliveries, which included five boundaries.

Bishoo was the only bowler to take a wicket.

Holder was disappointed to have lost the match, and said: “No regrets, thought the guys showed a lot of fight. We brought ourselves back in the game. In the second innings we didn’t bat as well as we would have liked. Credit must go to James Anderson – congrats on 500 wickets – but also to Ben Stokes. Going on we have another series in Zimbabwe, we have to keep it going. We have a lot of positives to work with.

“We still have to be a lot more consistent with the ball and with the bat fight harder at the start of the innings. We also dropped a number of chances. Hopefully it’s a breakthrough series for Shai, in the toughest conditions in the world and one of the best attacks.”

England skipper Joe Root was glad to have won the series 2-1, and said: “The guys were fantastic this morning and continued it all day. Jimmy’s achievement speaks for itself, the work he puts in and how he knows his game. He’s a massive part of the dressing room and hopefully will be for some time to come. He’s very helpful, very insightful.

“We’ve played some brilliant cricket this summer. The way we’ve won has been fantastic, hopefully we can take it forward. We’ve done a lot of learning as well. It’s been very enjoyable. Plenty of learning for myself as well and I’m sure there’s more to come.”

England all-rounder Ben Stokes was named Man of the Match, and said: “It’s good to come and put in a performance like that, the way we bounced back is credit to the team. I felt good in that long spell, helps when the ball is swinging.

“Quite hard for Rooty get the ball out of my hand. Feel like I’m getting back to where I want to be, a lot of credit to Ottis. Jimmy showed his class in the second innings and he deserves all the plaudits. I took the positive approach with the bat, have had a bit of a luck in the series.”

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