England speedster James Anderson went past Test match greats Ian Botham and Ravichandran Ashwin on the list of bowlers with the most number of Test fifers. Notably, Anderson returned with excellent figures of 5 wickets for 40 runs on Day 3 of the second Test match that England is playing against South Africa at Newlands on Sunday.
The 37-year-old picked up his 28th five-wicket haul after he dismissed Anrich Nortje, who was caught by Ben Stokes. With the help of Anderson’s fifer, England restricted South Africa to 223 runs in response to their 269 and consequently took a lead of crucial 46 runs in the first innings.
Indian off-spinner R Ashwin and Ian Botham have both picked up 27 five-wicket hauls in Test match career. However, Anderson now has 28 fifers to his name and is now eighth in the list of most five-wicket hauls in Test cricket.
Sri Lankan veteran Muttiah Muralitharan leads the list with as many as 67 fifers in Test match cricket. He is followed by Shane Warne who has 37 Test fifers. New Zealand’s Richard Hadlee (36), India’s Anil Kumble (35), Sri Lankan Rangana Herath (34) and Australia’s Glenn Mcgrath (29) are next in the list of most fifers.