Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], February 9 (ANI): Former England skipper Kevin Pietersen on Tuesday hailed the “greatest” bowler James Anderson after the pacer delivered a masterclass spell to dismantle India’s top order on the fifth day of the first Test.

Anderson produced three of the best possible deliveries to dismiss Shubman Gill, Ajinkya Rahane, and Rishabh Pant. The pacer has been a key cog in the bowling wheel of his team for years but the cricket pundits often claimed that Anderson performed only in England and not in away games.

But his recent outing against Sri Lanka where he became the second fast bowler after the great Richard Hadlee to take 30 fifers in Test cricket and then on Tuesday against India where he rattled the hosts’ top order to seal a win for his side certainly puts him in the elite list of the great bowlers.

Pietersen on Tuesday said that since Anderson has “done it in all conditions” he is the greatest bowler of all time for England.

“To be the greatest for your country, you need to have ‘done it’ it all conditions. Jimmy has done that! Huge WIN for England!” Pietersen tweeted.

England skipper Joe Root also heaped praise on Anderson and said the pacer’s amazing spell reminded him a little of Andrew Flintoff’s heroics in 2005.

“It reminded me a little bit of Flintoff in ’05 and the impact of that over to Ponting and Langer, but in the context of this game it was huge,” Root said in the post-match press conference.

England’s winning start against India in their ICC World Test Championship series has kept alive the visiting side’s hopes of making the final of the nine-team competition.

The victory at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday has lifted England to first place and 70.2 percentage points on the points table and they’ve improved their chances of securing one of the three series results in their favour that could see them through to the final – 3-1, 3-0 or 4-0. (ANI)