Anderson overtakes McGrath as England crush Proteas

Evergreen James Anderson has taken three wickets as England's seamers steered their side to victory over South Africa by an innings and 85 runs just before the close of the third day of the second Test at Old Trafford.

The tourists were bowled out for 179 in their second innings on Saturday with Anderson taking 3-30 as he became the leading wicket-taker among pace bowlers across all formats by moving past Australian Glenn McGrath's total of 949 with his second scalp.

The tourists had resumed their second innings on 23 without loss after England compiled 9-415 on Friday, but Anderson and fellow seamer Ollie Robinson (4-43) were excellent with their line and length to level the three-match series at 1-1.

The third Test will be at The Oval from September 8, with South Africa having won the first match by an innings and 12 runs at Lord's.

"It's amazing to come back from last week's disappointment to put in the performance we have done. It gives us a lot of confidence and sets up the series nicely," England captain Ben Stokes said, after his own player-of-the-match display.

"It was one of those wickets where you didn't think you could hit through the line, some balls bounced and others skidded through," said Stokes, who scored a century and took two key wickets in South Africa's second innings.

"The progression from us has been if you have that clear mindset and the positivity to score, that makes things a lot easier."

England had toiled through the middle session without taking a wicket. 

But once Stokes removed Keegan Petersen (42) and Rassie van der Dussen (41), who was batting with a broken finger and will play no further part in the series, his side raced through the tail, aided by the new ball.

Anderson, from the end of the ground named after him, showed none of his 40 years, as he bowled with vigour and accuracy to remove visiting captain Dean Elgar (11), Simon Harmer (16) and Kagiso Rabada (2).

Robinson was drafted back into the side after missing the Lord's Test and was excellent too with his pace and nagging line.

Elgar may well rue winning the toss and electing to bat first under overcast skies on day one, which now looks a poor decision, but England also exposed the visitors' vulnerable top six on a helpful wicket having bowled them out in the first innings for 151.

It was not quite the 'Bazball' style of earlier in the summer, but Stokes's 103 and Ben Foakes's unbeaten 113 on Friday took the game away from the visitors and they finshed the job in three days.

Van der Dussen will be replaced in the squad by allrounder Wiaan Mulder, which might earn a reprieve for batsman Aiden Markram, who failed again on Saturday, scoring just six.

"England were far better than us through the three days," Elgar said.

"We had a plan coming here, but first-innings runs are important in Test cricket.

"We have a lot of learnings and quite a few days before the next Test, so we will go back to the drawing board."

All-format top wicket-takers

Muttiah Muralidaran (Sri Lanka): 1347 in 495 games

Shane Warne (Australia): 1001 in 339 games

Anil Kumble (India): 956 in 403 games

James Anderson (England): 951 in 387 games

Glenn McGrath (Australia): 949 in 376 games

Wasim Akram (Pakistan): 916 in 460 games