Anderson admits England 'absolutely nailed it' on day one v India
Jimmy Anderson admits dominant England ‘absolutely nailed it’ after dismissing India for 78 before openers Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed carve out a lead for the hosts at Headingley
- Jimmy Anderson helped England remove India for just 78 at Headingley
- Anderson was particularly delighted to remove his old foe Virat Kohli
- The bowler also singled Haseeb Hameed out for praise after an unbeaten 60
James Anderson hailed England’s perfect day as they took control of the crucial third Test in Leeds against India in spectacular fashion.
After he helped dismiss the tourists for 78 – their lowest total against England in 47 years – openers Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed responded with an unbroken stand of 120 as Joe Root’s team bounced back from their meltdown at Lord’s.
‘It doesn’t get much better than that,’ said Anderson, who removed KL Rahul in his first over, Cheteshwar Pujara in his third, and Indian captain Virat Kohli in his sixth.
Jimmy Anderson was delighted by England’s brilliance on day one against India at Headingley
‘We’ve talked about trying to bowl as a unit, and we just absolutely nailed it today. Then the way the openers played at the end was outstanding, and exactly what we’ve been asking for.
‘These days don’t come around very often, so you just have to be happy when they do.’
Anderson was especially pleased to remove Kohli cheaply for the second time in the series, caught behind by Jos Buttler.
‘He’s a fantastic player and someone you want to keep quiet, especially in a five-match series,’ he said.
‘You know if he gets going, he can be very destructive. The way we’ve bowled at him has been very good and we’ve just got to try and keep him quiet as often as we can.’
Openers Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed stepped up after Anderson and the bowlers struck
And there was praise for Hameed, his former Lancashire colleague, who contributed his first Test fifty in almost five years.
‘Since he’s come back into the Test set-up, you can see how much he’s worked on his game, how he’s become a better player,’ said Anderson.
‘One thing he’s always had is the right temperament for international cricket, and we saw that today in bucketloads.’
Anderson also admitted England had made a conscious effort to focus on their own game after they were dragged into a slanging match during the second Test.
‘The first three or four days at Lord’s we played brilliantly, and didn’t get involved in too much discussion. After that maybe it did affect us a little bit.
‘We have made a conscious effort of trying to focus on us, what we do well and try to ignore anything else.’
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