James Anderson left on brink of 600 wickets as England’s hopes of victory against Pakistan hang in balance

Pakistan (273 &100-2) trail England (583 dec.) by 210 runs: Anderson was left on 599 wickets as bad light brought an end to play once again, with bad weather forecasted for the fifth and final day

One more night's sleep and one step closer.

James Anderson has a single day of Test cricket left in 2020 to reach 600 Test wickets, as rain and bad light restricted day four to just 56 overs of play. That was enough for Pakistan to make it to 100 for two in their follow-on innings, whittling England’s lead down to 210, and for Anderson to move from 598 to 599.

In truth, he should already have the milestone, and he and the rest of the England side may rue that they could have toasted a remarkable accomplishment by the time play was paused for bad light at 6:32pm and abandoned 12 minutes later when the rain came, just as it did to curtail the first session to a 12:30pm lunch.

Just 4.3 overs into play, Anderson once again baffled Shan Masood into an edge. However, Jos Buttler, a bucket on Sunday, was a sieve on Monday, letting the ball clunk into his thigh rather than nestle into his gloves. A ninth opportunity to bag Masood’s wicket went begging, but the chance to move to 599 with most of the day to go was gutting.

That was the fourth drop off Anderson’s bowling in 37 deliveries bowled, with three in 10 in the first innings that, mercifully, did not prevent him from wrapping up a 29th five-wicket haul. In the 155 Tests leading up to this one, he had never had four catches dropped in a single match.

Abid Ali frustrated England for the majority of the fourth day (Getty)

But if you are tempted to wag the finger at Buttler, Rory Burns, Zak Crawley or Stuart Broad for their errors here, maybe save some of that ire for the 86 other catches shelled off Anderson during his career.

Nevertheless, 599 would eventually come via the pads of Abid Ali, who fell away to the off-side in late spell of reverse swing from Anderson. The opener, who had 42 at the time, was part of a 39-run, 26.1 over stand with captain Azhar Ali, frustrating everything England had to throw at them.

But beyond the penultimate scalp, Abid became the first of Anderson’s 14 dismissals this summer to come in an oppositions second-innings. As questions are being asked of the 38-year-old’s durability across five days, let alone a packed 2021 schedule, it was a useful column to tick.

Stuart Broad would be the one to get Masood, the first wicket of the Pakistan follow-on innings – number 514, if you were wondering – trapping him in front with a delivery that the left-hander thought was going across him. Masood was not wrong, but the clip of his back pad was enough for umpire Michael Gough to decide it prevented it from hitting off stump. A DRS review agreed, albeit on umpire’s call.

James Anderson celebrates taking his 599th Test wicket (Reuters)

Amid a frustrating day was an injury picked up by Ollie Pope just eight balls in. The 22-year old chased down a shot to third man and put in a dive that ended up jarring his left shoulder. It is the same shoulder he damaged badly last summer during a one-day cup match for Surrey which required surgery. He would go on to miss all six of England’s home Tests.

He was checked at lunch and later in the day and, as a result, saw England’s reserves stretched with 44-year-old Paul Collingwood, the assistant coach, donning whites to run drinks on throughout the rest of the day.

On Tuesday morning, though, all eyes will be back on Anderson. The forecast is not promising but, with an 11am start and 98 overs expected, there is time to spare not just for an England victory to confirm a 2-0 series win but the chance for Anderson to make history.

It has taken him over 17 years to get to this point. What’s another day?