England speedster James Anderson finally took his 600th Test wicket and became first pacer to achieve the feat on a rain-hit Day 5 of the third Test against Pakistan before the match ended in a draw at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton on Tuesday.
Babar Azam scored an unbeaten 63 as the match ambled on to a stalemate towards the end of the day after Anderson achieved his milestone. With a victory in the first Test, England managed to win the three-mtach series 1-0.
The 38-year-old Anderson became the fourth bowler overall to take 600 wickets in Test cricket after he dismissed Pakistan captain Azhar Ali as England won their first home Test series against Pakistan since 2010.
He was, however, stranded on 599 wickets for much of the day.
Azhar, who had scored an unbeaten 141 in Pakistan’s first innings, was surprised by the bounce that Anderson generated as the ball ended up deflecting off the shoulder of his bat to England captain Joe Root at the lone slip position.
Root pocketed the ball despite it coming at a good pace at him.
The only other wicket to fall after that went to Root, who managed to get a nick off Asad Shafiq and got him caught at bat pad.
Pakistan were on 187/4 when the players shook hands. Anderson walked off to warm applause from his team mates and opponents.
The first two sessions of the day were washed out and it looked like Anderson might just be denied a chance to reach the milestone for much of it.
However, the umpires decided that there was scope to play a few overs towards the end of the day. With the series already won and there being no chance for Pakistan to secure a win from this game, England clearly were more intent on getting Anderson to his milestone than anything else.
England had won a thriller of a first Test by three wickets while both the second and the third have ended in draws.
Anderson had got a five wicket haul in Pakistan’s first innings in the third before which an epic 359-run stand for the fifth wicket between Jos Buttler and Zak Crawley put the game beyond Pakistan’s reach.
Brief scores: England 583/8d vs Pakistan 273 & 187/4 (Babar 63*, Abid 42; Anderson 2/45)