Series Editorial

Watch: ‘What an absolute jaffa!’ – James Anderson bowls Muhammad Rizwan with superb top-of-off delivery, leaving him speechless (placeholder)

by Wisden Staff December 11, 2022 - 10:38am 3 minute read

Watch: James Anderson produced a superb top-of-off delivery to bowl Muhammad Rizwan on the third day of the Multan Test match, leaving the keeper-batter speechless. On air, Nasser Hussain hailed the delivery as “an absolute jaffa”.

Chasing 355 on a turning track, Pakistan had reached lunch without losing a wicket in the final innings of the second Test match. Rizwan (30 off 43) had been promoted up the order to open, a role he fills in the shorter formats of the game, due to a hamstring injury to Imam-ul-Haq.

After the lunch break, Anderson – who had not bowled a single over before the break in play – was called on to bowl the first over of the session. Just five balls into his spell, the 40-year-old seamer produced the kind of delivery England fans have been familiar with for years to make the breakthrough. Bowling over the wicket with the ball seaming away from Rizwan, pitching on a good length the ball zipped past the outside edge of the bat and crashed into the top of the off stump.

With little on offer for the fast bowlers for the first two days of play, Anderson’s magic delivery left the commentators stunned. On air, Hussain exclaiming: “Oh, what a jaffa! What an absolute jaffa! When you need a wicket you go to Anderson, Rizwan in disbelief!”

Rizwan looked shocked by the delivery, as he stared back and forth between where the ball had pitched and at his dismantled stumps. He eventually walked off the pitch in grudging acceptance of the exceptional delivery.

“That is absolute magic from the legend, Rizwan still taking time to stroll off,” said Urooj Mumtaz. “This is absolute brilliance from Jimmy Anderson.”

Pakistan slipped to 83-3 before Saud Shakeel and Imam built a strong partnership to take Pakistan past the tea interval and within 180 runs of their target.