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James Anderson picks up 400th as Kiwis struggle

The pacer becomes first English bowler to achieve the feat

Leeds: New Zealand was mounting a fightback on a rain-affected opening day of the second test against England, recovering from being reduced to 2-2 by James Anderson as the paceman passed the 400-wicket barrier in tests.

The tourists, who need a victory at Headingley to square the two-test series, were 123-3 at tea with opener Tom Latham on 51.

Anderson became the 12th player, first from England, to go past 400 wickets when he removed Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson for ducks in the space of three balls in his second over.

Ross Taylor was trapped lbw - playing no stroke to Stuart Broad - for 20 to leave captain Brendon McCullum (41) with Latham.

The start of play was delayed by two hours due to rain. he loss of its early wickets hasn't made New Zealand rethink its trademark aggressive approach. McCullum, coming to the middle with the Black Caps rocking at 68-3, struck a six over extra cover on his first delivery faced and has also hit six fours in his entertaining 27-ball knock.

Latham's half-century - his second of the series - came off 86 balls and has included eight fours. Anderson's fiery opening spell accounted for two of New Zealand's most dangerous batsmen and took him to 401 wickets in his 104th test. It was the latest milestone for the 32-year-old seam bowler, who passed Ian Botham's national record of 383 test wickets in the recent series against West Indies in the Caribbean.
India's Harbhajan Singh is the only active bowler above Anderson in the list of all-time wicket-takers in tests. Sri Lanka great Muttiah Muralitharan is No. 1 with 800 wickets.
Guptill was caught at second slip by Ian Bell to bring up Anderson's 400th wicket before the paceman emerged after a 10-minute rain delay to entice an edge from Williamson to wicketkeeper Jose Buttler. That came in a double-wicket maiden for Anderson.
Latham overturned a caught-behind decision at 22-2 after replays showed he made no contact with Broad's delivery. The left-handed opener also looped an edge over Joe Root at gully off Ben Stokes just before tea, but has otherwise played freely. The fourth-wicket stand between Latham and McCullum moved to 55 runs by tea.

Brief scores: New Zealand 123/3 in 25 overs (at tea) (B McCullum 41*, T Latham 52*; J Anderson 2/28)

( Source : AP )
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