James Anderson added another chapter to his remarkable career on Tuesday, showing that age is no barrier to his class. The 43-year-old seamer, turning out for Manchester Originals in The Hundred, struck twice inside his first nine deliveries to dismantle Northern Superchargers’ top order. Having gone wicketless in his two earlier outings this season, Anderson made his mark in his side’s final fixture. His first breakthrough came against Dawid Malan, the former No. 1 T20I batter, who miscued an attempted slog and was caught comfortably by wicketkeeper Jos Buttler. Dan Lawrence tried to counter-attack, striking consecutive boundaries off the veteran pacer, but Anderson had the last word. He pinned Lawrence lbw the very next ball to claim his second wicket. Anderson returned with figures of 2 for 30 and, in doing so, became the oldest Englishman to take a wicket in The Hundred. Only South Africa’s Imran Tahir has achieved the feat at an older age. Manchester’s bowling effort was also boosted by Thomas Aspinwall, who picked up three wickets. Superchargers were restricted to 139 for 8 in their 100-ball allocation.
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In reply, Buttler led from the front with a fluent 70 off 37 deliveries. His innings ensured that the Originals crossed the target with 16 balls to spare. Despite the convincing win, Manchester’s campaign ended without a place in the play-offs. Northern Superchargers, however, secured the third spot and will face Trent Rockets for a chance to meet Oval Invincibles in the final.
