• Windies dig in after being set record victory target of 438
• As it happened: Read our day four OBO report
There came a point either side of tea when it was easy to gain the impression that this Test match was primarily about getting Jimmy Anderson to a record. He came into the second innings requiring another two wickets to become the most prolific wicket taker England have ever had and was faced with a West Indies side who will have known they had almost no chance of winning the game and were odds against not to lose it either, needing to bat for more than four sessions in order to draw. They looked to be reeling on the ropes as England biffed their way to a lead of 437, a total that no one in the history of Test cricket has achieved in the fourth innings to win. The situation looked ripe for him. The crowd, largely England supporters, were willing him on.
This is not the Anderson of old though and we may be watching someone in the twilight of a magnificent career: a miracle if he lasts the 17 Tests England must play in ten months. There was a time, in his pomp, when his pace could touch 90 miles per hour without any loss of movement. He was a real handful.Sluggish this pitch may be but twice the West Indian paceman Jerome Taylor has shown what is possible with the new ball and the sort of extra zip Anderson once possessed. Anderson is 10% and more down on his best pace, and it shows in the manner in which the batsmen can line him up. He is not so much looking to break the record, as someone once said of Kapil Dev’s search for the world record, as exceed it. Seven fruitless overs in two spells was all he was allocated before stumps.
Related: West Indies v England: first Test, day four – as it happened
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source Sport | The Guardian http://ift.tt/1DNfdcy
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