Centurion [South Africa], Dec 26 : Pacer James Anderson on Thursday became the fifth bowler in this decade to take a wicket on the first ball of a Test match.
The pacer achieved the feat in the ongoing first Test match between England and South Africa at the Supersport Park in Centurion.
Anderson had Dena Elgar (0) caught at the hands of the wicket-keeper Jos Buttler on the very first ball of the match.
Before Anderson, Suranga Lakmal (Sri Lanka), Mitchell Starc (Australia) and Dale Steyn (South Africa) were the only ones to take wicket on the first ball of a match this decade.
Lakmal has done this twice in this decade (2010 and 2017).
In the match, Anderson also became only the second English cricketer to play 150 Test matches. Overall, he has now become the ninth cricketer to achieve the feat.
Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid (India), Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Allan Border (Australia), Jacques Kallis (South Africa), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies) and Alastair Cook (England) are the other cricketers who have played more than 150 Test matches.
In the ongoing Test between England and South Africa, the visitors won the toss and opted to bowl first.
England’s former skipper Sir Alastair Cook holds the record for playing most matches for England. He played 161 Tests for the country.
The 37-year-old Anderson is currently the leading wicket-taker for England in the longest format of the game with 575 wickets to his name.
He also finished this decade with the second-highest wickets after taking 535 wickets. He made his debut at the age of 20 for England.
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