[Watch] James Anderson claims his 700th wicket by dismissing Kuldeep Yadav on Day 3 of IND vs ENG 5th Test

Legendary England seamer James Anderson finally picked up the elusive 700th Test wicket on Day 3 of the fifth Test against India in Dharamsala. The right-arm bowler reached the milestone by dismissing Kuldeep Yadav in the 124th over of the innings, thereby becoming the first pacer, and the third bowler overall to scale the mountain after Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne.

The dismissal occurred as Anderson came on to bowl the second over of Day 3 and drew Kuldeep Yadav into fiddling the ball. The left-hander took the bait as the ball took the edge for a simple catch to Ben Foakes. The 41-year-old had taken his 699th wicket on Day 2 by castling Shubman Gill for 110 and did his best to dislodge Devdutt Padikkal and Sarfaraz Khan.

The Englishmen toiled hard on Day 2 as Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma batted the opening session without losing a wicket, striking centuries. Padikkal and Sarfaraz also made half-centuries before India's mini-collapse, but the partnership between Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah drove their lead past 250.

England under pressure after James Anderson scales the 700 mountain

England national cricket team. (Credits: Getty)

Even as the tourists had Anderson's elusive landmark to cheer for, they currently find themselves needing a miracle to come back into the contest. After young off-spinner Shoaib Bashir claimed his second fifer of the series, India's lead stood at 259. Given the visitors' collapse in their first innings from 175-3 to 218, an innings defeat could be on the cards.

Ben Stokes and Co. trail the five-Test series by 3-1. England won the opening Test in Hyderabad by 28 runs but went on to lose the next three despite India having injury concerns. The likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Dhruv Jurel, and Sarfaraz Khan have stepped up when needed. An unlikely England victory would mean India lose 2 Tests in a home series for the first time since 2012.