James Anderson, the lord of Lord's when India come calling
James Anderson secured his seventh entry on the Lord's honours board today, with figures of 5 for 62 in 29 overs. Remarkably, four of those have come in his five consecutive appearances against India, dating back to his first home game against them in 2007. Here's a closer look at how those have panned out.
2007
5 for 42, match drawn
It might not have been apparent at the time, but this was the moment that Anderson the modern great was born. His official second coming would wait until the following winter, when he and Stuart Broad were recalled in Wellington to begin a partnership that has scarcely been interrupted since. But after another chastening winter tour, including bit-part roles in three of England's five defeats on the whitewash tour of Australia, Anderson was conferred an early glimpse of senior status at Lord's, with the absence of three of England's 2005 Ashes heroes - Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard. He seized it with a display of new-found discipline, bowling within himself after a stress fracture of the back had persuaded him to ditch England's efforts to remodel his action, and focussing instead on the guile that would become his watchword. A stunning outswinger to Rahul Dravid was a reminder of his 90mph heritage, however, as a new-look attack of Ryan Sidebottom, Monty Panesar and the debutant Chris Tremlett left India clinging on nine-down when rain and bad light (and MS Dhoni) saved them. It was a critical reprieve, as India would win the Trent Bridge Test and with it the series, but for the new head coach Peter Moores, a seed had clearly been sown.
2011
5 for 65, England won by 196 runs
A magical occasion for the 2000th Test overall, and the 100th between England and India. The sun beat down for five days, and the performances flowed throughout - foremost among them a stunning double-century from Kevin Pietersen, and a first notch on the Lord's honours board for Dravid, 15 years after he had made 95 on debut at the same venue in 1996. England, in their absolute pomp after victory in Australia the previous winter, held the upper hand throughout the match, including a first-innings lead of 188, which had been extended to an improbable target of 458 by the time Matt Prior had muscled a second-innings century from an awkward 107 for 6. But Dravid and VVS Laxman carried India to 80 for 1 at the close, to set the stage for one of the iconic days in Lord's history. A people's Monday, with queues stretching for miles down Wellington Road, as scores of fans lined up for the prospect of history - with Sachin Tendulkar, seeking his 100th international hundred, set to make his final appearance at the ground. Anderson, however, was on hand to apply the heartbreak, pinning Tendulkar lbw for 12 with a nipbacker, having already scalped the overnight batters to set up a 196-run win.
2014
4 for 60, India won by 95 runs
The one that got away, for England as for Anderson. This Test was the absolute nadir for Alastair Cook during a besieged year as England captain. He had been routed in the Ashes - another 5-0 as Mitchell Johnson breathed fire all over a champion team - and scorched in the media too, after the sacking of Kevin Pietersen had triggered a schism among England's supporters. A proud home Test record had already fallen that summer too, with Sri Lanka taking their two-match series 1-0 after a nailbiter at Headingley, with Anderson breaking down in tears after being last man out from the penultimate ball of the match. After a drawn first Test at Trent Bridge, he had gone some way to atoning with first-innings figures of 4 for 60 at Lord's, as England secured a slender lead of 24. But after M Vijay's 95 had been bolstered by some unexpected late resistance from Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma swarmed on to centre stage. England's resolve collapsed in a diet of happy hooking, as Sharma swept up with figures of 7 for 74 - the last five of which came in an eight-over spell either side of lunch, and each one to the short ball. Somehow Cook found the resolve to cling on as captain, and England would turn the series around 3-1. But they had touched the void in that session.
2018
5 for 20, England won by an innings and 159 runs
Blink and you might have missed this one. A turkey shoot under grotesquely rain-laden skies, as stereotypically dank and English as any Test match in recent memory. The first day was lost to bad weather, and when England won the toss on the second, Anderson's first over effectively sealed the game. A surging, seething outswinger, hooping late with the seam canted to fine leg, splattered Vijay's stumps for 0, and unleashed an air of unshakeable pessimism in India's dressing room. Their mood was not helped by the timing of two lengthy rain delays - the first moments after Anderson's second wicket had left them 11 for 2 in the seventh over, and the second after Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara had combined for a run-out off the last of the 12 balls possible in the middle session. Shortly after 5pm, the innings resumed at 15 for 3. And two hours later, India were all out for 107, with Anderson cleaning up with 5 for 20 in 13.2 overs. Chris Woakes, of all people, would show how it was done with his maiden Test century in England's only innings, before Anderson sealed the innings win with match figures of 9 for 43.
2021
5 for 62, result tbc
This contest began with the presumption that England were about to take the field without either of their attack-leaders for only the second time since 2007. Broad had already been ruled out of the series with a calf tear, while Anderson missed training on the eve of the Test after reporting a niggle in his quad. But after a scan had given him the all-clear, back he came - to the astonishment of every observer bar, it seemed, his own team-mates - to lead the line once more in an extraordinarily doughty display. He was thwarted in his first eight-over spell as Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul bedded into a 126-run stand, but when he returned in the 40th over, with his team-mates toiling to match his discipline, he came up with another moment of magic to unseat a hitherto imperious Rohit for 83. Pujara followed soon afterwards, in a continuation of his lean run of scores, but at 276 for 3 overnight, India were ominously placed. But, after Ollie Robinson's second-ball dismissal of Rahul for 129, Anderson's opening delivery to Ajinkya Rahane was a peach, a perfectly pitched outswinger that grabbed the edge to send him on his way for 1. And though Rishabh Pant and Jadeja guarded against a complete collapse, Anderson needed only a glimpse of India's tail to force his way back to the honours board. Ishant and Jasprit Bumrah were extracted in consecutive overs, for his 31st Test five-for, and his first since entering his 40th year a fortnight earlier.