Anderson swung the ball with relentless accuracy and boiling aggression as England seized an iron grip on their final match of the summer.
His emotions and frustrations were bubbling so much at one stage that umpire Kumar Dharmasena had to warn him to keep quiet after an lbw appeal against Virat Kohli was turned down.
Anderson took two of the six wickets that India lost in their first innings of the Fifth Test with Stokes snatching two – including Kohli – and Sam Curran one. Stuart Broad dismissed Shikhar Dhawan with his first ball of the match.
It means Anderson now has 561 wickets in Test cricket and is hunting down the total of 563 by the great Australian Glenn McGrath.
Amazingly, though, Anderson has still not dismissed Kohli in this series despite extracting more than 60 false shots from India’s captain during the five Tests.
They have included plenty of edges and a couple of dropped catches.
And it was a rejected lbw appeal against Kohli on 16 that caused Anderson to lose his rag.
After a series of away-swingers, Anderson made a full length delivery hold its line and it crashed into Kohli’s front pad.
The appeal was vehement, surely it was out. But umpire Dharmasena kept his finger down.
A review showed the ball would have hit the stumps but it was ‘umpire’s call’ on impact – which meant it struck a couple of centimetres outside off stump. The verdict remained not out.
At the end of the over, Anderson had words with Dharmasena, who was not best pleased. He called over Joe Root and urged the captain to calm down his star bowler. Kohli got involved in the conversation, too.
Anderson’s mood improved considerably in the next over when Cheteshwar Pujara, India’s rock-like No.3, nicked off.
Then, in Anderson’s next over, Ajinkya Rahane edged obligingly into Alastair Cook’s hands at first slip. Anderson became the all-time leading Test wicket-taker against India, overtaking the 105 by Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan.
It was a thrilling, tense passage of play and even Boris Johnson, in the smart seats in the Bedser Stand, must have been captivated. He had earlier been shown on the giant screen, once fiddling with his ‘phone and once apparently asleep. Both times, there was a chorus of boos from the crowd.
England vice-captain Jos Buttler, who scored 89, said: “It was fantastic Test cricket. Kohli is one of the best batsmen in the world, if not the best, and Jimmy is England’s greatest-ever bowler.
“As a match-up, it was awesome to watch. It’s been a great dual throughout the series. Jimmy has been so unlucky not to take his wicket.”
Asked if Anderson’s exchange with the umpire was a big deal, Buttler replied: “It didn’t look like it. A couple of words, that’s about it.”
Debutant Hanuma Vahari made unbeaten on 25 but enjoyed several slices of luck. On nought, he was given not out to Broad and England chose not to review. They should have done – the ball tracker showed three red lights.
Vahari had still not scored when umpire Joel Wilson raised his finger to a Broad appeal. This time, the batsman reviewed and technology predicted the ball travelling over the stumps.
One top-edged hook by Vahari against Stokes flew for six, another landed feet away from fine leg.
Vahari helped Kohli put on 51 for the fifth wicket but then Kohli edged Stokes to Root at second slip. Wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant soon gave Cook another catch.
Earlier, England enjoyed a brilliant first session in which they scored 106 runs in 25 overs for the loss of just one wicket.
Buttler, on his 28th birthday, top-scored in an England innings for the fifth time since his Test recall at the start of the summer.
Buttler and Broad put on 98 priceless runs for the ninth wicket before Broad skied left-arm spinner Ravi Jadeja and K.L.Rahul held his 13th catch of the series running back on mid-on.
Buttler launched Jasprit Bumrah over mid-wicket and into the crowd and then top-edged the same bowler for another six. He was last out, edging Jadeja to slip.
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