On this day in 2014, England's Joe Root, James Anderson stitched highest tenth-wicket stand in Tests
Jul 12, 2022
Nottingham [UK], July 12 : On this day in 2014, England batter Joe Root and pacer James Anderson stitched a 198-run stand, the highest stand for the final wicket in the history of Test cricket.
This landmark was accomplished during the first Test against India in July 2014 at Nottingham.
India had elected to bat first and had posted a solid 457 runs on the board in the first innings. The inning saw solid contributions made from top to bottom, with opener Murali Vijay hitting a brilliant 146, followed by skipper MS Dhoni's 82 in the middle. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar (58) and Mohammed Shami (51*) also put 111-runs for the final wicket, the second-highest stand for the last wicket for India.
James Anderson was the pick of the bowlers with 3/123, Stuart Broad and Ben Stokes took two each while Liam Plunkett and Moeen Ali got one each.
England came out to bat in the second innings. Sam Robson (59), Gary Ballance (71) and Stuart Broad (47) made some vital contributions to the side and Joe Root was also looking in fine touch. At 298/9, he found an unlikely partner in pacer James Anderson. For over 50 overs, the duo made India toil really hard for wickets. Shots were hit all over the park.
Root reached his 150 and Anderson also got his maiden fifty. The stand ended at 198 runs with Anderson being dismissed by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who took his fifth wicket of the innings.
The duo had surpassed Australia's Phillip Hughes and Aston Agar's record of a 163-run partnership for the tenth wicket against England in 2013.
Anderson's score of 81 was also the third-highest by number 11 batter in Tests, with Tino Best (95) and Ashton Agar (98) being top-two.
England was all out for 496 and had a 39-run lead in the match.
In the third innings, India scored 391/9 on the board. Murali Vijay (52) and Cheteshwar Pujara (55) scored fifties at the top, but the lower order delivered harder blows to England, with all-rounder Stuart Binny scoring 78 and Bhuvneshwar scoring 63*, his second fifty in the match.
Moeen Ali was the best bowler for England with 3/105.
This solid batting display by India meant that the Test ended in a draw. James Anderson walked away with 'Man of the Match' for his 81-run knock and four wickets in the match.
Brief Scores: England 496 (Joe Root 154*, James Anderson 81, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 5/82) draws against India 457 and 391/9 declared (Stuart Binny 78, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 63*, Moeen Ali 3/105).
