He said all he wanted to do was subsidize to a win. James Anderson got his wish, though the Lord’s crowd were denied the fairy-tale five-for that seemed there for the taking at the start of day three.
He completed with three in the innings, four in the match, and 704 for a Test career that has spanned more than two decades, as England completed the formalities of a crushing victory over West Indies.
As Anderson took his final bow, the centre stage was claimed by his latest successor Gus Atkinson ripped out three more wickets to finish a brilliant first outing with match figures of 12 for 106 – the best by an Englishman on Test debut since 1890. Atkinson’s sheepish grin was perhaps partly in recognition that he had denied Anderson the chance to bookend his extraordinary Test career with twin attendances on the Lord’s honours board – but his ruthlessness was to be celebrated nevertheless as he blew through the West Indies tail.
Anderson even unexploited the opportunity to finish the match with a catch off his own bowling, dropping a chance dollied back to him by the No. 9, Gudakesh Motie. The moment drew gasps and groans, though Anderson could smile as he sank to his knees mid-pitch, the ball having rebounded out of his grasp as he went for it one-handed.
Brief scores:
England 371 in 90 overs (Zak Crawley 76, Ollie Pope 57, Joe Root 68, Harry Brook 50, Jamie Smith 70, Chris Woakes 23; Jayden Seals 4-77, Jason Holder 2-58, Gudakesh Motie 2-41) beat West Indies 121 in 41.4 overs (Mikyle Louis 27, Alick Athanaze 23, Kavem Hodge 24; Gus Atkinson 7-45, James Anderson 1-26) and 136 in 47 overs (Alick Athanaze 22, Jason Holder 20, Gudakesh Motie 31*; James Anderson 3-32, Gus Atkinson 5-61, Ben Stokes 2-25) by an innings and 114 runs
English 
Sinhala