James Anderson took ten wickets in a Test for the first time as England beat Pakistan by a crushing 354 runs in their series opener at Trent Bridge here on Sunday.
Pakistan were dismissed for just 80 — their lowest Test total against England, replacing the 87 they made at Lord’s back in 1954 — before lunch on the fourth day.
They had been set a fourth innings target of 435 for victory that would have been a new world record had they acheived it.
But they got nowhere near, with swing specialist Anderson taking six wickets for 17 runs in 15 overs, including five wickets for 10 runs in 45 balls on Sunday, to add to his first innings five for 54.
That gave Anderson his best match haul of 11 for 71 in his 49-Test career, beating the nine for 98 he took against New Zealand on this ground two years ago.
“It generally swings here, which helps my game, and it certainly helped this week,” Anderson told Sky Sports. “You do want to make the most of it because it doesn’t always go your way.”
Danish Kaneria (16 not out) and opener Imran Farhat (15) were the only Pakistan batsmen to make double-figure scores in an innings where the last seven wickets fell for 65 runs in 22 overs on Sunday.
“It was not all our way, we had some tough times but we reacted well,” said England captain Andrew Strauss. “Our bowling was first class but I’m very conscious it’s only the first game.”
Pakistan resumed on 3-15 and, with England again using the helpful, overcast conditions, it wasn’t long before they were 5-37, Farhat edging Anderson to Strauss at first slip before Umar Akmal was leg before.
Steven Finn then took two wickets for no runs in four balls. With his fourth ball he ended nightwatchman Mohammad Aamer’s hour-long resistance, courtesy of Kevin Pietersen’s catch in the gully. He then had Kamran Akmal leg before – a second nought of the game for the wicketkeeper.
Anderson then had Umar Gul brilliantly caught by a leaping Paul Collingwood at third slip and the duo combined again to give the Lancashire seamer his 10th wicket when Shoaib Malik exited for nine.
He wrapped up the match when last man Mohammad Asif edged to Graeme Swann.
England’s batsmen had also struggled but an opening day partnership of 219 between Eoin Morgan, whose 130 was his maiden Test century, and Collingwood (82) gave England a crucial initiative as they reached 354 in their first innings.
After dismissing Pakistan for 182, England pressed home their advantage. Matt Prior’s unbeaten 102 allowed them to declare at 9-262 and set Pakistan a target in excess of the world record fourth innings victory total of 7-418, scored by the West Indies against Australia in Antigua in 2003.
Victory, with more than a day to spare, put England 1-0 up in the four-match series and left Pakistan with little time to turn things around before the second Test starts at Edgbaston on Friday.
However, Pakistan did bounce back from their 150-run first Test defeat by Australia at Lord’s to square a two-match series 1-1 after a three-wicket win at Headingley last week.
“It’s the same time difference as Lord’s and Headingley,” defiant Pakistan captain Salman Butt told reporters. “I’m just two games old (as captain). We’ve won one and lost one.
“What do you expect from these boys, to win every game? The faith I have in them, I know they’ll come back.”
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