3rd Test: Performances don't get much better than that, says James Anderson after Day 1 heroics

England fast bowler James Anderson was full of praise for his teammates, following a spectacular performance on Day 1 of the ongoing third Test against India. Anderson termed the team’s performance on the opening day as one of the best in living memory. England were asked to field after Team India skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bat. The hosts bowled out Kohli’s men for just 78, condemning the nation to their ninth-lowest score in their Test history. Openers Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed followed it up with a fantastic display, by sauntering to 120-0 at the close of play.

“It doesn’t get much better than that”

“It doesn’t get much better than that I don’t think. These days don’t come around very often, so you just have to be happy when they do,” said Anderson.

The opening day witnessed just the third time any side had taken all 10 wickets, and taken a first innings lead on the first day of a Test without losing a single wicket. The previous instance of such a scenario was recorded back in England’s famous Boxing Day effort at the MCG back in 2010. Australia were dismissed for 98 before Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook racked up a score of 157-0. Anderson is the only player from that game, who is currently active.

“I was trying to tempt Joe into batting”

“The only difference with Melbourne is that I was keen to bowl there and I wasn’t today for some reason. I was trying to tempt Joe into batting! But losing the toss, being asked to bowl and then putting in a performance like that..it just doesn’t get much better. We’ve talked about trying to bowl as a unit, as a group, and we just absolutely nailed it. With both ball and bat we’ve displayed exactly what we wanted to do.”

Anderson accounted for the dismissals of KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli in a fantastic performance. The pacer’s excellent opening spell of 3-6 in eight overs, enjoyed quality support from Ollie Robinson (2-16), Craig Overton (3-14) and Sam Curran (2-27). The latter two were on a hat-trick at one stage, in a fantastic afternoon session. Anderson had words of praise for the two openers, who ensured a tidy finish to the day’s play.

“The way the two guys played (Hameed and Burns) towards the end of the day with the bat was outstanding and exactly what we’ve been asking for,” said Anderson.

“When you bowl someone out for less than 100 you’re never quite sure whether you’ve bowled well or if the wicket is not as good as you think it might be. So to see the way they both went about their business, just felt so calm in the dressing room. The way they were so measured, they were solid in defence, left well and put away the bad ball when they got one. I just thought it was brilliant Test match batting. I couldn’t be happier for Has. One thing he’s always had is the right temperament for international cricket and we saw that today in bucket loads. He was calm, he was measured and he had a game plan which he executed brilliantly,” he concluded.