[Watch] James Anderson castles West Indian skipper Kraigg Brathwaite in his final innings with the ball
Retiring England pacer James Anderson began the final bowling innings of his international career in style by removing West Indian skipper Kraigg Brathwaite in the first Test at Lord's. The 41-year-old picked up only the lone wicket in an off-color first innings despite England bowling the West Indies out for 121.
However, Anderson returned to his best one final time by producing a peach to castle Brathwaite in his first spell. After four brilliant overs with three maidens, the 41-year-old bowled a lovely first delivery of his fifth over that cut back sharply to breach Brathwaite's defense.
The ball swung in before landing on a good length and beating the batter's inside edge all ends up with inward seam movement.
Here is a video of the dismissal and Anderson's trademark celebration:
It was the eighth time Anderson got the better of the West Indian captain in Tests, with the batter averaging a dismal 15.60 against him. The champion pacer also moved to 702 Test wickets, six behind Shane Warne's 708 for second all-time in Test history.
With the Brathwaite scalp, Anderson has an incredible 436 Test wickets at home and 89 against the West Indies.
England on course to dominant win in Anderson's farewell Test
James Anderson is on course to ending his illustrious international career on a winning note, with England producing a dominant performance thus far in the Lord's Test.
After winning the toss and fielding, the hosts bundled the Caribbean side for a paltry 121 in the first innings. Debutant pacer Gus Atkinson was the star of England's bowling display with outstanding figures of 7/45 in 12 overs.
With the bat, England withstood a fairly impressive display from the strong West Indian attack with several useful contributions to finish on a formidable total of 371. The innings saw five batters - Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, and Jamie Smith score half-centuries to help England grab a massive first-innings lead.
Following Anderson's dismissal of Brathwaite to start the second innings, skipper Ben Stokes struck by removing Kirk McKenzie for a nine-ball duck. The West Indies are reeling at 18/2 in 16 overs of their second innings, trailing England by a massive 232 runs on the final session on Day 2.
The two teams will play each other in two more Tests after the ongoing encounter at Trent Bridge and Edgbaston, starting on July 18 and 26.