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Picture Credit: Twitter/@englandcricket

England's experienced pacer James Anderson is ageing like a fine wine. At 39, Anderson remains a masterful swing bowler and he displayed just that during the ongoing second test match against New Zealand.

After a horrendous campaign in the 2021-22 Ashes in Australia, Anderson was dropped from the squad and missed competitive cricket for quite some time, but with the beginning of the Ben Stokes-Brendon McCullum era, James Anderson too received a national call-up for three-match Test series against New Zealand.

The pacer with the highest number of Test wickets needed no second invitation to prove his worth in international cricket. After picking up six wickets in the first Test against New Zealand, the veteran pacer hunted down three crucial wickets in the first innings of New Zealand.

Skipper Tom Latham (26 off 60), Devon Conway (46 off 62) and M Bracewell (49 of 87) became the victims of Anderson in the first innings. As England got bundled out at 539/10 in 128.2 overs, New Zealand's opener Tom Latham and Will Young came out to bat seeking to extend the lead to as many runs as possible.

But James Anderson had other ideas as he removed New Zealand captain Tom Latham in the very first over of the second innings of the Test. With that wicket, Anderson completed the landmark of 650 Test wickets and became the only third bowler to do so after Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne.

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After bowling the first three balls for a dot, Anderson was smacked for a four on the fourth delivery. However, on the fifth delivery, James Anderson angled the delivery on a good length from round the wicket and as the NZ skipper failed to cover his stumps, the ball went on to hit the timber. Latham was dismissed after scoring just four runs.

Here is the video of the dismissal:

Notably, James Anderson achieved this milestone of 650 wickets in just 171 Test matches. He is the only pacer to cross the 650 wickets mark, with only two spinners ahead of him.

As far as the match situation is concerned, New Zealand posted 553 runs in the first innings. In response, England put on 539. The Kiwis have in their second innings already scored 100 for the loss of 1 wicket. With the second session on Day 4 of the Test underway, the match seems to be headed towards a draw.