Anderson Bounces Back in Style

There have been times over the past three years when the most exciting question James Anderson has had to answer is whether to serve his team-mates the lime cordial or the lemon squash. Today, though, he might be tempted to reach for the champagne.

In his first Test for over a year, Anderson returned figures of 4 for 40 - his best since making his debut against Zimbabwe at Lord's in May 2003 - and pulled off a dead-eyed direct hit to see off Mahendra Dhoni, who was starting to motor ominously. If England go on to win this game and square the series, Anderson will be not so much career 12th man as Test cricket's first unofficial super sub. The transformation really is that improbable.

As one of only three seamers in an England side which can settle for nothing less than victory, he knew he could not afford a repeat of his performance at Johannesburg 14 months ago when he replaced Simon Jones and returned match figures of 2 for 149. Instead, Anderson bowled with intelligence, economy and stamina to add the scalps of Rahul Dravid, Harbhajan Singh and Munaf Patel to the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar from the previous evening.

A fully fit Jones and Steve Harmison remain above him in the pecking order, but this was an opportune reminder that England's seam department has strength in depth. And with their batsmen struggling in the evening session against a fired-up Indian seam attack, it might be opportune in more ways than one.

By the time Anderson came into the attack, Andrew Flintoff had already removed Yuvraj Singh, with the 12th ball of the day, courtesy of a careless slash to the keeper. That reduced India to 94 for 4, but Dravid and Dhoni could still be dangerous. Anderson promptly had them both dropped in the space of three balls: Dhoni by Monty Panesar at wide mid-off when he had 23; Dravid, more culpably, by the substitute fielder Matt Prior in the gully on 52.

But Dravid fell in Anderson's next over, smartly caught down the leg-side by Geraint Jones to make it 142 for 5. And, after Shaun Udal removed the potentially irritating Irfan Pathan for 26, caught at deep mid-on, Anderson nipped Dhoni's counterattack in the bud by pulling off a direct hit from mid-on with only one stump to aim at.

Dhoni had just hit Flintoff for three fours and looked in the mood, but there was an element of misfortune about his dismissal. Replays suggested neither bail had been fully dislodged from its groove by the time Dhoni grounded his bat, but the TV umpire K Hariharan disagreed and Dhoni was on his way for 64.

Anderson then found extra bounce to get rid of Harbhajan Singh for just 2 as Jones leapt athletically in front of first slip to hold his fifth catch of the innings, and it needed an enterprising ninth-wicket stand of 55 between Anil Kumble and Sri Sreesanth to keep India in with a shout.

In the end they got to within 121 runs of England, which should not have caused too many flutters in the away dressing-room on a pitch that remained batsman-friendly. But Andrew Strauss was caught behind off Patel, bowling round the wicket, for 4, before Ian Bell nibbled in familiar fashion at Sreesanth to depart for 8.

It might have been even worse for England. Darrell Hair failed to spot the nightwatchman Udal's edge as Sreesanth went up for another caught-behind appeal, before Yuvraj dropped Udal in the gully - again off Sreesanth. But with an overall lead of 152 and two days still to go, England are in control. Their fate in this series could depend on whether they can prise Dravid from the crease on the last day.