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On Saturday, England fast bowler James Anderson added another feather to his glorious career when he bagged a five-wicket haul in the ongoing second Test between Sri Lanka and England.
Anderson etched yet another record to his name as he went past Glenn McGrath’s tally of most fifers in the longest format by picking up his 30th five-wicket haul in Galle.
Anderson sent back Niroshan Dickwella (92), Suranga Lakmal (0), Angelo Mathews (110), Kusal Perera (6) and Lahiru Thirimanne (43) to register his 30th fifer on Day 2 and occupied the 6th position on the list of bowlers with most 5-wicket hauls in red-ball cricket.
Sri Lanka legend Muttiah Muralitharan leads this list with as many as 67 fifers in Test cricket from 133 matches. He is followed by ace Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne who has 37 fifers to his credit in 143 games.
Former New Zealand fast bowler Richard Hadlee is on the third with 36 five-wicket hauls while Indian spin wizard Anil Kumble holds the fourth spot with 35 fifers. Kumble is followed by former Sri Lanka spinner Rangana Herath who has 34 five-wicket hauls to his name.
Most five-wicket hauls in an innings:
- 67 – Muttiah Muralitharan (133)
- 37 – Shane Warne (145)
- 36 – Richard Hadlee (86)
- 35 – Anil Kumble (132)
- 34 – Rangana Herath (93)
- 30 – James Anderson (157)
- 29 – Glenn McGrath (124)
This was Anderson’s second fifer in Asia. Previously, he had picked five wickets at the same venue against the Lankans in 2012.
Joe Root scores his 50th Test fifty
Anderson’s superb performance was backed by pacer Mark Wood who claimed three scalps to help England stop the run-flow of Lankans and fold their first innings at 381.
For the hosts, senior cricketer Angelo Matthews shined with the willow after he smashed 11th Test century. Apart from Matthews, Dickwella with 92, Dilruwan Perera with 67 and Dinesh Chandimal with 52, made major contributions to the team’s total.
In reply, the visitors got off to a dreadful start after Lasith Embuldeniya dismissed both the openers in quick succession. While Zack Crawley was removed for 5, Dominic Sibley went without troubling the scorers.
Then, the experienced duo of Joe Root (67 no) and Jonny Bairstow (24 no) turned the tables and took their side out of early troubles.
The English skipper continued his golden form and scored his 50th half-century in Test cricket. The pair added an unbeaten stand of 93 runs before the umpires announced the stumps on Day 2.
