England thrash West Indies in first Test

LONDON: James Anderson bowed out of international cricket on the winning side as England thrashed the West Indies by an innings and 114 runs on the third day of the first Test at Lord´s on Friday.

This was the 41-year-old veteran´s 188th and last Test before retiring from England duty, with Anderson´s tally of 704 Test wickets the most taken by any fast bowler in the history of the format.

“It´s been an amazing week, been overwhelmed with the reaction of the crowd and everyone around the ground,” Anderson told Sky Sports.

But it was Gus Atkinson, who ended the game when he had Jayden Seales caught in the deep, the debutant fast bowler finishing with superb match figures of 12-106 as England went 1-0 up in a three-Test series.

West Indies were dismissed for 136 in their second innings, with Anderson -- 42 later this month -- taking a typically miserly 3-32 in 16 overs They resumed on the brink of defeat at 79-6 in their second innings, still a mammoth 171 runs behind England´s first-innings 37.

Before Friday´s play started, both teams lined up outside the Pavilion to give Anderson a guard of honour, with the veteran paceman receiving a standing ovation from the crowd at the ´Home of Cricket´ -- where he made his Test debut against Zimbabwe back in 2003.

West Indies had lost Jason Holder to Thursday´s last ball and, after Atkinson completed that over, Anderson was straight into the action at the Nursery End on Friday.

It was not long before Anderson struck in familiar fashion when Joshua Da Silva, who had added just one to his overnight eight not out, feathered a ball that angled in and nipped away to give wicketkeeper Jamie Smith a simple catch on the England Test debutant´s 24th birthday.

Atkinson then had Alzarri Joseph out hooking a bouncer to complete a 10-wicket haul for the match. Atkinson then bowled Shamar Joseph with an excellent yorker that crashed into the base of off stump. The West Indies were dismissed for just 121.

England won the toss

West Indies 1st Innings 121

England 1st Innings 371

West Indies 2nd Innings

Brathwaite b Anderson 4

Louis c Smith b Stokes 14

McKenzie lbw b Stokes 0

Athanaze c Smith b Anderson 22

Hodge b Atkinson 4

Holder c Pope b Atkinson 20

Silva c Smith b Anderson 9

Joseph c Duckett b Atkinson 8

Motie not out 31

Joseph b Atkinson 3

Seales c Duckett b Atkinson 8

Extras: (lb7, nb4, w2) 13

Total: (all out, 47 overs) 136

Fall Of Wickets: 1-12, 2-17, 3-32, 4-37, 5-55, 6-79, 7-88, 8-96, 9-103, 10-136

Bowling: Anderson 16-7-32-3; Woakes 7-3-11-2; Atkinson 14-2-61-5; Stokes 10-4-25-2

Result: England won by an innings and 114 runs

Player Of The Match: Gus Atkinson

Umpires: Rod Tucker (AUS), Nitin Menon (IND)