England’s Jimmy Anderson and Joe Root stun India with record stand
|
Version 0 of 1. Joe Root and Jimmy Anderson put on a world-record stand of 198 for the last wicket to take England to a highly unlikely first-innings lead against India at Trent Bridge. The pair scored the highest 10th-wicket partnership for any team in Test cricket after coming together with England in trouble at 298 for nine in response to India’s 457 all out. When Anderson was eventually out for 81 from 130 balls shortly after lunch England, the partnership had shattered the previous record of 163 set by Australia’s Ashton Agar and Phil Hughes in the 2013 Ashes series in England, also at Trent Bridge. Root was left unbeaten on 154 from 295 balls. Anderson, whose previous best score was 49 for Burnley in the Lancashire League, had breezed past John Snow’s record for an England No11 – 59 not out against the West Indies at The Oval in 1966 – and was closing in on the first ever Test hundred by a No11 before he was caught by Shikhar Dhawan off the bowling of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. That’s a world record 10th wicket stand in Test cricket by @jimmy9 & @joeroot05!! #EngvInd pic.twitter.com/CtrNnfWMmt England had resumed on Saturday morning on 352 for nine, with Root on 78 and Anderson on 23. They picked up precisely where they had left off the night before, Anderson whipping Bhuvneshwar Kumar for four through midwicket in the first over. He added another boundary in Kumar’s next over, this time lacing a drive past point. A dashed two from Root took the pair past England’s record 10th-wicket stand against India, 70 shared by Paul Allott and Bob Willis in 1982, and the crowd quickly warmed to the entertainment. Root managed to ease into the 90s while farming the strike and raced to his hundred with successive boundaries off Mohammed Shami. Both were sweet connections, Root powering the ball through cover and point to reach three figures in 186 deliveries. With India quickly tiring of their task, the hosts continued to collect landmarks, including England’s best 10th-wicket tally of 130, previously held by Wilfred Rhodes and RE Foster in 1903. An impudent uppercut off Ishant Sharma took Anderson past his previous Test best of 34 and a full-blooded drive in the same over hauled him past 40 for the first time in his professional career. The hundred stand followed – marking the first time in history that both sides have managed the feat for the last wicket in a Test. Anderson was put down on 45 when he fended Shami to Murali Vijay and he made sure he cashed in, bringing up his half-century with his best impression of a commanding pull. That Anderson had made the landmark was unlikely, that he did so in 61 balls was positively bizarre. The runs slowed down as India settled for grossly defensive fields and England declied to attack, but Anderson levelled the scores with a crisp driven four off Vijay’s part-time spin. The umpires took an extra half-hour before lunch but India, bedraggled, embarrassed and chronically short of ideas could not summon the breakthrough until the resumption. |