James Anderson - anytime, anywhere, anyhow

Nothing should surprise us about James Anderson anymore. This is a bowler with more than 600 Test wickets and 150 Tests under his belt. He has been there, done it and got many, many t-shirts. And yet, such was the quality of his first over on the final day in Chennai that even umpire Nitin Menon had a look of awe on his face at the end of it. On a day which England secured a famous win, Anderson delivered a famous spell. Neither will be forgotten in a hurry.

Midway through the morning session, Anderson bowled Shubman Gill and then Ajinkya Rahane in the space of four deliveries. These were not any old balls, though. These were perfectly pitched, reverse swinging in-duckers that rushed through the gates of both players, ripping out the stumps and destroying India's hopes of saving this game. Rahane was lucky to survive as long as he did. The ball before he was dismissed, Menon had given him not out to a carbon copy delivery. England reviewed but it was umpire's call. Just.

There have been some great overs in the history of Test cricket. Flintoff to Ponting at Old Trafford. Holding to Boycott in Bridgetown. Irfan Pathan against Pakistan at Karachi. Given the lack of crowd, this did not quite have the same level of drama as those but in terms of execution, it was right up there. No matter if you were a three-Test rookie or a vastly experienced vice-captain, there was nothing to be done. Anderson never gave Gill or Rahane a chance.

It was an over that knocked the wind out of India's sails. At the start of the day, their task had been improbable. After Anderson's intervention, it was nigh on impossible. It certainly was when he removed Rishabh Pant a little while later, not with reverse swing this time but with an off-cutter that just stood up on the batsman. Root, at short cover, did the rest. In all, Anderson took three wickets for six runs in the space of 30 deliveries. It was a remarkable spell of bowling, accurate, skilful, wholehearted.

The greatest compliment paid Anderson today was not the expression on Menon's face but that England were trying to give Virat Kohli singles against other bowlers to get him at Anderson's end. And yet there are still some who say that James Anderson is simply a home track bully who can only do it on grey, dull English days. In two Tests this winter, he has 11 wickets at an average of 9.60 and has conceded less than two runs an over. Anderson can do it anywhere, anytime, anyhow.

England completed their victory half an hour before tea. Few gave them much chance of competing before this series began. India have not lost a home series since 2012 and had lost just four of their previous 50 Tests in India. England's team is inexperienced in these conditions, particularly their spinners, and they have won just three of their last 20 attempts in India. Yet England threw all of that history to one side and delivered a performance rooted very firmly in the present. True, they won an important toss. But England outplayed India for nearly all of this game.

Before the series, Root had said his team were undaunted by India's record at home. "It's a big one, we're all aware of that because it's a very difficult place to come and win, but that doesn't scare us and it shouldn't," Root had said. "We should embrace that challenge." How England have done that over the past five days. They have played excellent, determined, consistent cricket. They had a clear plan, which they executed. There is plenty of work ahead but for a team that is still developing, this victory is a significant achievement.

It is certainly the most complete performance of Root's tenure as captain so far. It is also one of England's best away victories of this century, ranking alongside those at the MCG and SCG in 2010/11 and Kolkata and Mumbai in 2012. Not simply for the result. The performance, the quality of the opposition, the conditions and the context, all of it puts this win in the very top bracket. At the start of a potentially historic year, England have a historic victory.

They are now unbeaten in eight Tests and have won six on the bounce away from home. It is also the third consecutive series that England have won the opening Test. Prior to that, it was more or less a given that they would fall in a heap at the start of a series before having to claw their way back. Sometimes they did, sometimes they didn't. This is a far more sustainable approach.

There were contributions all down the list. In his 100th Test, Root batted and captained superbly. Dom Sibley and Ben Stokes played vital innings. Dom Bess bowled as well as he has for England on the third day although he did struggle badly today. After being mauled by Pant in India's first innings, Jack Leach ended up with four wickets in the second. England's fielding was excellent with Stokes and Root taking two fine catches. Then, of course, there was Anderson.

England will not get carried away, though. One of the hallmarks of Chris Silverwood as a head coach is that he stays very level emotionally. There is still a long way to go in this series and there is no more resilient team in the world than India. The tourists were not perfect in this game and India have too many champion players to believe things will be straightforward from here. But victory in the opening Test gives England a foothold in this series, a foundation to build from. That is everything they would have hoped for.

Their success on the final day was based on a fine first session which brought five Indian wickets. If you had offered Joe Root that at the start of the day, he not only would have bitten your hand off but also handed over the keys to his house and car. The backdrop to this series has been India's famous last day heroics in Sydney and Brisbane last month and the question before play was whether they could do it again. By lunch, Anderson and England had nipped any such talk in the bud, as they had the criticism of their decision to bat on during the final session of day four. That looks a pretty smart call now.

Jack Leach started the proceedings off with a beauty to dismiss Cheteshwar Pujara, India's rock, which turned and bounced to take the edge. It was the wicket England wanted more than any other and it opened an end up. Anderson's three wickets burst through and then Bess had Washington Sundar taken behind the wicket. Although England did not take any further wickets, they still metered out some punishment. Jofra Archer hit Ravichandran Ashwin on the hand, forearm and helmet in the over before lunch.

There was some resistance from Kohli in the afternoon session but Stokes ended that with a ball that kept a fraction low although not, perhaps, as much as the batsman suggested. The final two wickets fell quickly thereafter. As Root's team were celebrating under Chennai's blazing hot sun, the snow was falling in England. It was a victory to warm the hearts of all those watching at home, a brilliant antidote to the hardship of lockdown. And, as ever, James Anderson was at the forefront of things, unlocking the defences of batsmen with skill, tenacity and cunning.

We really shouldn't be surprised anymore.