Day 4 Eng 232 & 213 v NZ 207 & 68

England win by 170 runs after quite an extraordinary day 4

Morning session Eng 213 (lead 238)

FOW: 183/7 Finn c sub (Guptill) b Southee 6 (16)

200/8 Bell c Brownlie b Southee 6 (11)

WICKET Swann c McCullum b Southee 1 (Eng 210-9, lead 235)

Anderson c southee b Williamson 0 (eng 213) target 239) 

New Zealand 1/1 Fulton c prior b broad 1 

16/2 Rutherford b broad 9 

16/3 Taylor c cook b broad 0 

21/4 Williamson c Finn b broad 6 

25/5 brownlie c cook b Anderson 5

29-6: McCullum lbw Broad 8

 

Lunch New Zealand 29 for 6 (Broad 5-22) and 207 need 210 more runs to beat England 232 and 213 (Root 71, Trott 56, Southee 6-50)

Stuart Broad ripped out New Zealand's top order with a ferocious spell of five wickets inside six overs as a run chase that began in hope quickly became desperate. Wickets tumbled throughout the session - ten in total - as a Test match that began in slow-motion hurtled towards a conclusion with New Zealand in chaos at lunch on 29 for 6 chasing 239.

England's collapse, which began on the third evening, had also continued at a pace after they had resumed trying to add to an overnight lead of 207. In total, their last eight wickets fell for 54 with Tim Southee becoming just the second New Zealand bowler, after Dion Nash in 1994, to take ten wickets in a match at Lord's. Sadly for him and his team it was an achievement soon fading into the background.

 

Broad, before playing a major role with the ball, biffed 26 runs that at the time appeared crucial, although after his opening burst the target was almost out of sight. It was always a tall order in the conditions and on a ground where only two successful chases have been higher.

 

The start New Zealand dearly wanted to settle the nerves did not materialise and soon became a nightmare. Broad produced one of the destructive bursts that have been dotted through his Test career and which make it all the more exasperating when he appears to divert from the full length that makes him such a threat. He capped the session by trapping Brendon McCullum lbw - surely New Zealand's last hope - to complete his eighth five-wicket haul.

Peter Fulton played a big hand in his demise when he fiddled outside off to a delivery he should have left alone, completing a match that made his twin hundreds in Auckland feel a lifetime ago. Hamish Rutherford, though, could do little about the ball he received, which seamed away off middle and extracted the off stump.

 

Two deliveries later Broad added another, the key wicket of Ross Taylor whose aggressive approach knocked England off their stride in the first innings, with a ball that seamed away and was edged low to first slip where Alastair Cook took an excellent catch. Like Fulton, Taylor may consider that he did not need to play but the early adrenalin of an innings can be difficult to control.

 

Broad's next success came in slightly more unconventional fashion for an opening bowler against the top order when Kane Williamson, the epitome of technical correctness and calmness, drove a fierce catch to catch to extra cover, which knocked Steven Finn off his feet.

 

James Anderson compounded New Zealand's problems by producing one of the dismissals of the match. After hooping a delivery viciously back between Dean Brownlie's bat and pad - unplayable was a term not out of place - he then made the next delivery hold its line outside off stump and the batsman edged to first slip. McCullum tried to make a statement by not resisting his shots but, on the stroke of lunch, was taken on the pad; he used the DRS - he had to - but the impact was just in line with off stump.

The theme of the morning was set in the first over when Southee removed Finn and four overs later the struggling Ian Bell - suffering from tonsillitis - was then drawn into a loose drive that was snapped up at third slip. New Zealand's catching cordon has had a fine Test.

Broad played and missed as often as he connected but when he did make contact collected valuable runs and this time it was he who was let down by some poor shot selection from team-mates. Graeme Swann is a better batsman than the waft he offered at Southee to give him his tenth wicket of the match and Anderson spooned Williamson to cover having been exposed when the final-wicket pair ran a three.

It was a wonderful spell from Southee to secure his place on two honours boards. By lunch another player had notched his name up in lettering and it was that spell, rather than Southee's, that was shaping as the match-winner.

41/7 Southee c Root b Broad 7
54/8 Watling c Trott b Anderson 13

67/9 Martin b Broad 1

68/10 Wagner run out (sub Dodd) 17

England 232 (Bairstow 41, Southee 4-58) and 213 (Root 71, Trott 56, Southee 6-50) beat New Zealand 68 (Broad 7-44) and 207 (Taylor 66, Williamson 60, Anderson 5-47) by 170 runs

 

In a destructive spell of pace bowling, Stuart Broad blew away New Zealand with career-best figures of 7 for 44 as England surged to a 170-run victory at Lord's. A Test that had begun at a cautious pace hurtled to a conclusion less than hour after lunch on the fourth day with New Zealand dismantled for 68.

Broad took the first five of his wickets in 5.4 overs before lunch to crush New Zealand's hopes that would have been reasonably high just an hour earlier after Tim Southee, with just the second ten-wicket haul by a New Zealander at Lord's, had instigated another collapse, England losing their last eight wickets for 54 dating back to Joe Root's dismissal on the third evening.

 

Yet, to show that days of hard work can be undone in the blink of eye, they went to lunch six down having lost their captain, Brendon McCullum, on the stroke of the break to give Broad his eighth five-wicket haul and remove their last hope of making a dent in the target.

 

History was still weighted against New Zealand at the beginning of their pursuit of 239. Only two sides had chased more to win at Lord's: West Indies against England in 1984 and England against New Zealand in 2004. Still, with the sun peeping through and the day a touch warmer they might have been expected to get closer than they did.

 

Instead, Broad produced one of the eye-popping bursts that have been dotted through his Test career and which make it all the more exasperating when he appears to divert from the full length that makes him such a threat. The only wicket he took with a short ball was when Southee dimly pulled to deep square-leg. When he bowled Bruce Martin, who was suffering a calf strain that could end his tour, he had his second haul of seven at Lord's following his previous career-best against West Indies last year.

 

For the first time since 1936, England had just two men bowl unchanged through a completed all-out innings, although Broad and James Anderson did not quite share all ten wickets. The last fell to a chaotic run out after one of the substitute fielders, Adam Dobb, had not quite been able to gather a top-edged hook from Neil Wagner, who then ended up in the middle of the pitch. It was New Zealand's sixth-lowest total against England.

 

After bringing some solidity back to their batting, this was a reprise of the efforts that haunted New Zealand on the tour of South Africa. Peter Fulton played a big hand in his demise when he fiddled outside off to a delivery he should have left alone, completing a match that made his twin hundreds in Auckland feel a lifetime ago. Hamish Rutherford, though, could do little about the ball he received, which seamed away off middle and extracted the off stump.

 

Two deliveries later Broad added another, the key wicket of Ross Taylor, whose aggressive approach knocked England off their stride in the first innings, with a ball that seamed away and was edged low to first slip where Alastair Cook took an excellent catch. Like Fulton, Taylor may consider that he did not need to play but the early adrenalin of an innings can be difficult to control.

 

Broad's next success came in slightly more unconventional fashion for an opening bowler against the top order when Kane Williamson, the epitome of technical correctness and calmness, drove a fierce catch to catch to extra cover, which knocked Steven Finn off his feet.

 

Anderson compounded New Zealand's problems by producing one of the dismissals of the match. After hooping a delivery viciously back between Dean Brownlie's bat and pad - unplayable was a term not out of place - he then made the next delivery hold its line outside off stump and the batsman edged to first slip. McCullum tried to make a statement by not resisting his shots but was taken on the pad; he used the DRS - he had to - but the impact was just in line with off stump.

 

The final outcome was tremendously tough on Southee, whose six second-innings wickets had come in the space of 52 balls from late on the third day and placed him alongside Dion Nash on the ten-wickets honours board. In a hint of what was to follow over the next three hours, Finn (who would never have believed he would not be needed with the ball) edged the fifth ball of the day into the slips to begin a procession of 14 batsmen falling for 101.

Southee's five-wicket haul came when Ian Bell, still suffering from tonsillitis, edged loosely to third slip but his personal success will be scant consolation after what followed.

From swing specialist to all-weather champion

When James Anderson started out he needed favourable conditions to perform; now, he can be expected to succeed no matter what the conditions

 

When he had Peter Fulton caught low at second slip by Graeme Swann, James Anderson became the fourth England bowler - after Ian Botham, Bob Willis, and Fred Trueman - and the 26th in all, to take 300 Test wickets. That journey took him almost exactly ten years, given that he made his Test debut on May 22, 2003, and over those ten years, Anderson has developed from a bowler who could be effective only in favourable conditions (often at home), into one who is an undoubted asset anywhere, no matter what the conditions.

 

Anderson began his career at Lord's, with figures of 5 for 73 against Zimbabwe, returns which are very similar to Ian Botham's debut performance of 5 for 74 against Australia in 1977. If Anderson stays fit, it's entirely conceivable that he'll overtake Botham's tally of 383 and become England's highest wicket-taker in Tests.

 

Among these four bowlers, Trueman reached the 300-wicket mark the fastest - in just 65 Tests - while Willis and Anderson have taken the longest. In terms of averages, Trueman is again clearly on top, while Anderson is the only one the four to average more than 27.

 

Willis didn't take a single ten-wicket haul in his career, but that's also partly a reflection of the other bowlers who were playing for England at the time. Botham had an excellent strike rate in terms of wickets per Test till he got to 300 - he reached the mark in only 72 matches - but then took only 78 wickets in his last 30 Tests to finish on 383 from 102.

A comparison England's bowlers in the 300-wicket club

Bowler	Tests for 300	Average	Strike rate	5WI/ 10WM
Fred Trueman	65*	21.22	48.5	17/ 3
Ian Botham	72*	26.18	54.2	23/ 4
Bob Willis	81*	24.53	52.3	16/ 0
James Anderson	81	30.41	58.9	12/ 1

* Stats at the end of the Test in which they reached 300 wickets.

Anderson's average is currently the worst among the four, but it's not unreasonable to expect it to get better, for he has been improving with every season over the last few years and is arguably at the peak of his powers. In his first four years in international cricket, Anderson's stats were pretty ordinary, with his average touching 40. It gradually improved into the early 30s in 2008 and 2009, and has, since the beginning of 2010, been an impressive 26. Over the next couple of years it might improve further, given that he has developed excellent control over his swing, and has learnt to bowl in all conditions.

James Anderson's Test career

Period	Tests	Wickets	Average	Strike rate	5WI/ 10WM
Till Dec 2007	20	62	39.20	62.7	3/ 0
2008 and 2009	24	86	31.72	59.2	4/ 0
Jan 2010 onwards	37	153	26.12	57.1	5/ 1
Career	81	301	30.41	58.9	12/ 1

In the early years, Anderson was known as a bowler who could be extremely threatening when conditions were suitable for swing bowling, but didn't know how cope when it wasn't swinging. His first series in Australia was a fine illustration of his struggles overseas: in three Tests in the 2006-07 Ashes, he took five wickets at an average of 82.60.

 

His next tour of Australia, in 2010-11, was a fine illustration of how he developed his skills to become a potent bowler no matter what the conditions: in five Tests of a series dominated by England, Anderson took 24 wickets at 26, and was one of the same reasons for England's 3-1 triumph.

 

Over his entire career, Anderson's home stats are still better than his overseas numbers, but the difference has been reducing in the last few years. Before the 2010-11 Ashes series, Anderson's overseas average was almost 44; in 17 Tests since that Ashes tour, his overseas average has dropped to 28.17, though ironically, he's only taken one five-for during this period, compared to two before that. After that Ashes tour, Anderson also had three fine series in Asia, averaging 27.66 against Pakistan in the UAE, 21.77 in Sri Lanka, and 30.25 in India. Those are the kind of numbers he would have struggled to achieve in his early days in international cricket.

James Anderson, home and away in Tests

	Tests	Wickets	Average	Strike rate	5WI/10WM
Home	45	185	27.42	54.2	9/ 1
Away (incl neutral)	36	116	35.19	66.3	3/ 0

James Anderson in away Tests (including neutral venues)

	Tests	Wickets	Average	Strike rate	5WI/ 10WM
Before Nov 2010	19	52	43.84	74.4	2/ 0
Since Nov 2010	17	64	28.17	59.7	1/ 0

One of his big improvements has also been his bowling to left-handers. In his first six years in international cricket, Anderson struggled against left-handers, averaging almost 42 runs per wicket against them. Since the beginning of 2010, though, his average against them has almost halved, while his average against right-handers has dropped only marginally.

Anderson, v right- and left-handers in Tests till Dec 2009

	Wickets	Average	Econ rate
Right-handers	103	31.79	3.40
Left-handers	45	41.88	3.51

Anderson v right- and left-handers in Tests since Jan 2010

	Wickets	Average	Econ rate
Right-handers	100	28.19	2.86
Left-handers	53	22.22	2.48

From the table below, it's also clear that Anderson has targeted, and succeeded in dismissing, the top batsmen from opposition teams. The two players he has dismissed most often are Sachin Tendulkar and Jacques Kallis, arguably two of the best batsmen of his era. Both of them have only managed an average in the mid-20s against Anderson, while Michael Clarke and Kumar Sangakkara have struggled him as well. Like a true spearhead of a bowling attack, Anderson has been at his best against the best opposition batsmen.

 

He also has 171 wickets in matches that England have won, at an average of 23.60. He is third-highest among England bowlers in that list, and only six short of Trueman, whose 177 wickets in wins came at 17.30. If things go to plan, Anderson should be on top of that list before the summer is done.

Batsmen that Anderson has dismissed most often in Tests

Batsman	Runs	Balls	Dismissals	Average
Sachin Tendulkar	208	350	9	23.11
Jacques Kallis	177	419	7	25.28
Mark Boucher	161	273	6	26.83
Michael Clarke	153	255	6	25.50
Kumar Sangakkara	147	241	6	24.50
Graeme Smith	411	701	6	68.50