Kevin Pietersen

Kevin Pietersen has been a revelation, right throughout his five years of international cricket. He has dominated every bowling attack possible, and has left no margin for error in helping England win not just at home, but also abroad. He is an equally good player in all three formats of the game.

However, the so-called ‘law of averages’ tends to catch up with many cricketers in some points of their careers. And Pietersen has suffered from this since the last ten months or so. Even the most ardent Pietersen fan is likely to believe that he is not at his best, at the moment despite a wonderful World Twenty20 in the West Indies. This is because of one particular reason – the emergence of left-arm spinners in world cricket.

Great batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar or Brian Lara have played so well right throughout their careers that there are no apparent weaknesses which can be spotted when they are batting. So, Pietersen cannot be in the list of greats yet, because he has this rather peculiar weakness of getting dismissed against the left-arm spinner.

Pietersen, no doubt is a fine-quality player of pace bowling when he can play any shot on both sides of the wicket. However, spin can make Pietersen look silly at times, just as how Sehwag often is tempted when spinners are bowling to him.

Pietersen emerged as one of England’s valuable players in 2005 in the one-day series in South Africa. The three hundreds which he had scored in seven matches, clearly showed how he can bat on hard, bouncy tracks. However, what many didn’t observe was that Pietersen struggled to play Nicky Boje in that series and got out to his bowling once.

So the problem remained but he was able to flourish thanks to no regular left-arm spinner in the Australian team in the 2005 Ashes. His blossoming was due to his innovation against spinners, which was risky but successful. He invented the switch-hit in 2006 off the bowling of Muttiah Muralitharan, when he hit a huge six at Leeds. He took on Pakistan’s slow bowlers well at home. For that matter, even in the 2007 World Cup, he played really well because of his aggressive attitude towards spin bowling.

However, captaincy was thrust on to him in 2008 and the threat of injury loomed large after playing three years of non-stop international cricket. This is when his agility also reduced to a certain extent. A lean run followed in 2009 as it was evident that the emergence of left-arm spinners had an effect on his batting.

In the tour of New Zealand and the return series in 2008, Daniel Vettori troubled Pietersen and curbed his scoring to a large extent, if not taking his wicket. Even in the IPL 2009 in South Africa, Kevin Pietersen was playing as captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore in a match against Delhi Daredevils.

Vettori, playing for the Daredevils was bought on to bowl by captain Virender Sehwag when he was batting. Pietersen tried the switch-hit but was comprehensively bowled by Vettori. In the 2009 tour to South Africa, he returned to play for England after an Achilles injury.

In the ODIS there, unlike the last time when he burst into top-flight cricket with a brilliant performance, he failed miserably. And in Bangladesh in March 2010, the problem of left-arm spin had taken centre-stage. In the ODIS, Pietersen’s poor form had continued as Abdur Razzak, Bangladesh’s spinner picked up his wicket in 2 ODIS and the captain Shakib al Hasan picked him in the first ODI. It was a similar story in the Tests.

Shakib continued to dominate with the wicket of Pietersen, especially with the flighted delivery from around the wicket, which comes back to hit the middle stump. That ball has a lot of use as it can either get the batsman lbw or bowled or even catch out on the off-side or at short leg. And that is exactly what happened with Pietersen.

Despite having a healthy average of 40 in the Test series, Pietersen could have gone on to make more runs, if he hadn’t been dismissed by Shakib on those turning wickets in Bangladesh. And in the recent Test series against Bangladesh at home, he tried to break the shackles by playing at his aggressive best, but he didn’t get the better of Shakib once again.

This is a major worry for Strauss and co if England are aiming to be World No.1 in all three formats of the game in atleast the next 2 or 3 years. Perhaps, its time that Pietersen changes his approach towards batting altogether to become a much better player for England, who need some experience to rely on.

Eoin Morgan is Irish-born who currently plays for England. He has this reputation of creating strokes rather than playing text-book shots. And to add to that, his strokes are indeed as powerful as his team-mate Kevin Pietersen’s.

Last year, when he became 23, he shot to fame with two outstanding, match-winning knocks against South Africa. First, he hit a crucial 67 of just 34 balls in the Champions Trophy in September 2009 followed by unbeaten 45-ball 85 in the first of the two Twenty20s of England’s tour of South Africa, two months later.

Morgan looks like a born ‘finisher’ who is apt to be known as England’s Bevan or Michael Hussey. England needed finishers in their ODI team and Morgan’s resurgence has helped end the search for that position.

A solid and sedate left-hand bat, Morgan grew up playing hurling and with his change-up sweeps and pulls, he has clearly taken aspects of the Irish sport into his cricket. He first played for Ireland in the World Cricket League in 2006, averaging 52.20.

In the tournament, he scored his first ODI century, a top-notch 115 from 106 balls against Canada. However, in the 2007 World Cup, it was proved that Morgan was a huge hype. As his team-mates impressed, he underperformed with 91 runs from nine matches.

He joined his countryman, Ed Joyce, at Middlesex in 2006, where he helped them to the Twenty20 Cup in 2008 and caught the eye of the England selectors.

As he has played for England over the last one year or so, his stature has kept increasing which was proved when he was the only England player to play in the IPL 2010. He was signed for $220,000 by Royal Challengers Bangalore, where he joined Kevin Pietersen.

Yet again, he failed to make an impression when it was the most expected and was soon left to sit on the substitutes bench by a no non-sense captain Anil Kumble and coach Ray Jennings.

However, he was back giving it his best for England in the World Twenty20 that followed, as his powerful shot-making and coolness under pressure helped him score 183 runs and England won a global event in the form of the championship for the first time since 35 years.

As Paul Collingwood, the winning captain was rested ahead of the first Test against Bangladesh at Lords, Eoin Morgan got a surprise call-up to the squad of 15, much like Pietersen in 2005 Ashes.

The English selectors certainly had enough faith in him as he had proved his mettle. He has a bright future ahead of him and he might be the next Pietersen, who could put England on the top of the world map in all the three formats of the game in the next five years, at least.

Kevin Pietersen

If there is any batsman in the world who bowlers hate the most to bowl at, it has to be England’s Kevin Pietersen. However, he is not exactly England’s. He is South Africa’s. He was born in Pietermaritzburg, Natal. He played in the country till he was 15. Until it was time that the quota system based on race, took place.

This didn’t allow Pietersen to play for South Africa. So he left his home country and went to his mother’s country, England. From thereon, Pietersen had every incentive to make it big as a cricketer. His story is inspirational so much so that he is undoubtedly my favourite player.

His rise has been majestic, and this was proved when he got a call up to play for England in a one-day series in Zimbabwe in 2004. However, what amazed me was his concentration which made him determined to make it big in international cricket.

And I was won over with his performances in South Africa in 2005. People abused him for being a traitor. However, despite the pressure, he went on to score three hundreds in seven one-day matches.

And he was humble enough to give the credit of his amazing debut to his then-captain Michael Vaughan, who told Pietersen to only watch the ball and nothing else.

His performances further at home against Australia and Bangladesh caught the eyes of the English selectors who had an otherwise tedious job to select the best 15 players to challenge the Australians for the Ashes in the summer of 2005. And he was preferred ahead of Graham Thorpe!

Pietersen made sure that he lived up to the faith that his captain Vaughan and coach Duncan Fletcher had in him, by top-scoring with a 50 in the first Test at Lords.

Though England lost badly, yet it helped Pietersen to get better and better. He ended the Ashes with 468 runs in 10 innings, which aided England in winning the coveted prize.

He followed that with his second test hundred in Pakistan, making him already England’s Mr. Reliable. However, as his stature was increasing, England became lackluster as they were beaten 0-5 by Australia in 5 Tests, in the process losing the Ashes.

Pietersen’s critics questioned his match-winning ability. However, he continued his good form despite England exiting from the Super 8s stage of the World Cup 2007.

He scored a double-century against West Indies at Leeds, as the innings yet again showed how much he loves dominating a bowling attack right from the world go. His form never dipped as he proved himself to be a perfect batsman.

He scored Test hundreds in New Zealand, India and West Indies over a period of two years. His tally of Test hundreds is now 16.

However, cracks began to appear in Pietersen’s batting when he was made captain in 2008. Though Pietersen continued to score, but his knocks were not convincing enough.

A strained relationship with the then coach Peter Moores, didn’t let him do well and the team. It resulted in an Ashes-like whitewash in the ODIS and a defeat in the Test series in India. A modest showing followed against the West Indies away and at home.

And then his downfall began. It is ironic that the man, who rocked the cricketing world with a fantastic debut against Australia, is four years later not making an impact against the same opposition and it results in him losing his form. Pietersen didn’t play three Tests of the Ashes 2009, which England won.

And further irony was that he failed in the same format of the game in a country where he made his mark as a top cricketer. And in his ‘home’ country, South Africa. He struggled right throughout the tour.

This had a multiplier effect as he didn’t play as the real Kevin Pietersen in Bangladesh. In fact, the mediocre Bangladeshi bowling attack was able to invent something which no other country had done in the past. An easy way to get him out is with the use of a left-arm spinner.

This weakness made Pietersen vulnerable and pundits believed that it would take some time before he regained his form. And he did soon. Pietersen makes the statement ‘Form is temporary, class is permanent’ so valid. He played well for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL 2010 in India, for a team where he is the million-dollar man.

A successful IPL resulted in an equally successful World T-20 in the West Indies for Pietersen. He was a major force in England winning a global tournament in 35 years.

This was proved with him winning the man-of-the-tournament award. Currently, he must be the happiest man in the world as he has been not just a loyal English cricketer with a tattoo of the 3 lions, but also a complete family man having just witnessed the birth of his first child with wife, Jessica Taylor.

He has always been a good son too, according to his mother. Can there be another Pietersen? I don’t think so. Not at the moment.

The result surprised many, but none can deny that England deserved to emerge triumphant. This year’s tournament has emphasized that, like in the other two versions of cricket, consistency has a major part to play. True, luck is a big factor as well in T20 – how else can one explain Pakistan making it to the semis on the basis of one decent performance in the Super Eights?

However, the bottom line was that the two most consistent sides made it into the grand finals, and the team which was better on the day eventually won, and rather handsomely at that.

As everyone is aware by now, this was England’s maiden triumph in an ICC final. Prior to this, they made it to three 50-over World Cup finals and the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy summit clash, where they eventually went down to West Indies. This time, however, they were determined to set the record straight, and went about their task in a highly impressive professional manner.

For England to clinch the World Cup, a hell of a lot had to go right. After all, they were nowhere near in contention for the title compared to favourites Australia, India and, to an extent, Sri Lanka. Also, apart from Kevin Pietersen, they did not have a star name, who could be termed as a potential match-winner, at least at the start of the tournament. But, it all turned around for England, and how.

Among the major contributors to the win was undoubtedly the man himself, and now daddy, Pietersen. It was his aggression at the start of the series that set things off on a positive note, and the Englishmen never looked back from there. Often in the past, Pietersen has been guilty of getting only half the job done, and at most other side, has run out of support.

However, during the course of the last two weeks, both of these follies were rectified. If it was Craig Kieswetter who took most of the pressure off Pietersen in the finals, earlier in the tournament, the likes of Michael Lumb, Eoin Morgan and the rest also came good.

This was the difference between England and some of the other teams. Sri Lanka had Mahela Jayawardene, India had Suresh Raina and Pakistan had Salman Butt, who were among the top-run getters in the series, yet their teams could not make it all th way.

In contrast, the strong back up he received allowed Pietersen to play freely, which is when he is at his best, and most dangerous. Still, one cannot to take anything away from the tall lad, who batted that number three for England during this World Cup, as he was at his mature best.

It wasn’t enough just for the batsmen to click though. The bowlers also needed to chip in. They did a lot more than that. Most importantly, they were positive as opposed to some other sides. Ryan Sidebottom was lethal at the start with his accurate swingers and deadly at the end overs, with his nagging yorkers, a combination that strangled most batsmen.

Everyone from Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan to Michael Yardy made a noteworthy contribution. But the performance that stood out was that of off-spinner Graeme Swann’s. As seen in the IPL, the tweakers have a significant role to play in the T20 format. And Swann’s showing in this World Cup adds further credence to the theory.

Instead of looking to contain the runs, (hope Harbhajan Singh was watching) Swann was prepared to toss the ball and invite what could have been a lot of trouble in the form of runs. Instead, the confidence-personified Swann defeated most batsmen, in the air as well as in the mind.

As the result, the runs were also kept down to a premium. Swann’s striking efforts only reiterates that, irrespective of the form of the game, attack in the best form of defence.

His performance with the bat notwithstanding, skipper Paul Collingwood also enacted his role as a leader of the side as per the demands of the script. He was inspirational in the field, pulling off some spectacular catches at key moments, and rarely let the heads drop in the field.

Never in the recent past has an English side so effervescent on a cricket field, and it wouldn’t be unfair to grant an acknowledgement to the captain of the ship for making it happen.

It is too early to predict whether this win will open a fresh chapter in English cricket. But, for the moment at least, they have proved to one and all, who are the kings of T20.

The in-form Kevin Pietersen celebrated the birth of his first child in great style. He lead England into the finals of the T20 World Cup with a typically aggressive 42 not out, as his side chased down a modest target of 129 set by Sri Lanka, who batted first after Kumar Sangakkara called correctly in the first semi-final.

It was disappointing overall batting effort from the Lankans, but for a fighting 58 from Angelo Mathews. However, against a rampant England batting order it was far from enough. Craig Kieswetter and Michael Lumb got their team off to a whirlwind start, blast 68 for the opening wicket in eight overs. Pietersen then carried forward the momentum and finished the game off in a hurry with his 26-ball knock.

Before Pietersen’s bravado though it were the bowlers who set up with the win for the Englishmen with a controlled yet penetrative effort. The seamers as well the pacers were equally impressive and never ever allowed the Lankans to get away.

Things began disastrously as Ryan Sidebottom forced the totally out of sorts Sanath Jayasuriya to nick a well-pitched outswinger to a gleeful Paul Collingwood in the slips. A restless Tillakaratne Dilshan, also out of form, tehn perished trying to hit out against Tim Bresnan, but only managing to loop the ball high up in the air.

Lanka had hardly snailed past 20 when their big hope Mahela Jayawardene was undone by Stuart Broad, beaten for pace and caught behind the wickets.

Kumar Sangakkara had already arrived at the crease, but the pressure was immense even for the level-headed Lankan captain. His side was down in the dumps at 38 for the loss of their top three batsmen at the end of the Powerplay overs.

With the introduction of spin, Sangakkara saw an opening to relieve the pressure. However, very soon England were celebrating once again as Sangakkara, in an effort to loft Graeme Swann, ended up gifting a dolly at mid-off, which was accepted by Pietersen.

Amidst the carnage, only Mathews kept a still head and guided Lanka to a score in the region of respectability. Known for his big shots, he was prepared to rotate the strike and, only occasionally hit out, emphasizing his maturity as a cricketer. Even when he played the lofted shot, he ensured it was with a straight bat, like the six he took off Swann’s bowling.

If Lanka thought they had a slight opening to get away, England ensured the reverse happened. Their pacers resorted to the use of the slow bouncer smartly, and everyone, including Mathews, struggled. And, soon the wickets started falling again. Broad ended Chamara Kapugedera’s frustration out in the middle by getting him to mistime one.

A 17-run over by Bresnan, including three wides, helped Lanka cross 120, and also gave them some momentum going into the break. However, it wasn’t to last for long.

After a couple of quiet overs delivered by the spinning combo of Dilshan and Ajantha Mendis, England’s openers went on the attack. Kieswetter did not allow Suraj Randiv to settle, slogging him for successive boundaries in an over, and later slammed Mathews for a maximum on the off side.

His partner Michael Lumb, meanwhile, was lucky to get off to a start. He should have been back in the pavilion early on when following a mix-up, which left him stranded midway down the pitch, but a nervy Mendis couldn’t gather a simple throw.

Soon, he was dropped by a diving Nuwan Kulasekera at mid-off and even the normally brilliant Jayawardene sent a wayward throw when a simple, well-directed one would have had the batsmen well short of the ground.

Lanka did manage to dismiss both, but by then the game was out of their grasps. Both the openers had made merry and blasted Jayasuriya for a six each befor Lasith Malinga’s deadly yorker knocked over Kieswetter.

Lumb threw his wicket away for 33, moving across the stumps and trying to hit Thissara Perera against the line. Collingwood perished in a hurry to finish things, but daddy Pietersen made sure England cruised to their first ICC final in six years.

South Africa always start as favourites whenever they take on England. But, on Saturday, the latter side reigned supreme as they comfortably outsmarted the hosts by 39-runs at the Kensington Oval. With this win, the Englishmen headed one step closer to the semi-finals.

Yet again, Kevin Pietersen was the chief architect of the triumph. He smashed a scintillating 53 from 33 balls and also featured in a 94-run stand with Craig Kieswetter, as England put up a challenging total of 168 for 7, batting first. The bowlers then did the rest, bowling out South Africa for a measly 129, to romp home by a comfortable 39-run margin.

Spin did the trick for the bowling side as Graeme Swann picked up three crucial wickets and Michael Yardy. Ryan Sidebottom then demolished the tail in no time to cap an extremely impressive performance by England.

Pietersen, who will be returning back home to be with his wife for the birth of their first child, played an impactful knock that took the sting out of South Africa’s bowling. The Proetas depended heavily on their paces, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, but both came a cropper on this day.

The duo was torn apart by Pietersen and Kieswetter’s, in a partnership which perceptibly hurt the psyche of the bowling side. Steyn was smashed for three boundaries in his very first over while Morkel gave away two free hits in his opening over.

The momentum was with England, though South Africa had a chance when Pietersen edge one of Morkel, but neither Mark Boucher nor Jacques Kallis went for the catch.

Charl Langeveldt’s introduction only made matters worse. He conceded wides, sprayed the ball all over and was taken for plenty as England hit their way to 65 for 1 at the of the Powerplay. If South were able to restrict England to well below 200, which looked eminently possible at one stage, it was due to the efforts of experienced hands like Johan Botha and Kallis.

While the former conceded a stingy 15 runs in his quota of overs, Kallis ensured he bowled a tight line as well. But, Botha it was who ended Pietersen’s whirlwind knock, having him caught at short fine-leg.

Kieswetter also fell soon trying to up the ante. Wickets kept falling in the pursuit of runs as Paul Collingwood and Luke Wright also perished. Langeveldt came back well in the death overs, his yorker length deliveries came in handy in resisting England’s charge.

Slog over specialist Eoin Morgan also couldn’t provide the requisite finishing touches to the innings as the Proteas recovered reasonably well from an unimpressive start.

South Africa should have been buoyed by the comeback by their bowlers. But, it hardly reflected in their batting effort. Opening with Graeme Smith and Kallis chose to play it safe in the Powerplay overs, a ploy which backfired big time. As the pressure built up, Kallis miscued a drive to mid off. And when, England introduced spin, the match turned even more in their favour.

Herschelle Gibbs missed his chance to stand up being the senior pro, as Yardy removed him with his first ball; a mention has to be made of Sidebottom, who took a stunning catch running backwards.

If Yardy put in a notable effort, Swann was lethal. After troubling Smith on a number of occasions, he had him caught off an attempted sweep that was top-edged. Swann also got rid of the dangerous AB de Villiers cheaply as a pull shot was lapped up skipper Collingwood. South Africa were not helped by the fact that Albie Morkel could not repeat the heroics of his previous match.

He was cleaned up Yardy and soon the South Africans were struggling at 53 for 5. Sidebottom’s aggressive mop-up job meant, England were well on their way to secure a semi-final birth. Speaking of birth, the Englishmen would also hope that Pietersen returns in time for the semis, following his wife’s delivery.

On a slow, low pitch at the Sawai Mansingh stadium at Jaipur, Rajasthan’s batsmen had a torrid time, which resulted in them being trumped by the Royal Challengers Bangalore by a comfortable margin of five wickets. What began well for Shane Warne when he won the toss and elected to bat first, only got worse.

In the most inauspicious of starts, Michael Lumb was run out cheaply and the Bangalore bowlers then combined brilliantly to have Rajasthan on the mat right through. It was only a stubborn partnership towards the end between Abhishek Raut and Adam Voges that enabled Rajasthan to touch 130. But, with Kevin Pietersen in the most murderous of moods, the match was a no-contest, despite the loss of a few cheap wickets late in the game.

Returning to Rajasthan’s insipid batting effort, in the season of run-outs, Lumb (9) added one more to his kitty. Not for the first time in the series, there was a total lack of co-ordination between him and Naman Ojha. As a result, Lumb was stranded more than halfway down the pitch and had only one way to go from thereon, back to the dugout.

The only consolation for him could have been that Pietersen’s run-out later in the day was uglier. But, this wasn’t a battle to score brownie points. Following Lumb’s dismissal, Amit Paunikar (0) was smartly trapped by R Vinay Kumar off a short ball in the same over. Ojha too couldn’t make amends for the run-out of Lumb as he chipped one up in the air off Pankaj Singh’s bowling for 7.

At 3 for 21, Bangalore were well on top, but they knew they had thrown it away from a similar position in the previous game. There were no mistakes this time, however. Shane Watson (22), who cracked a couple of boundaries and was looking ominous, was brilliantly caught by Pietersen, diving in front of him off Kallis’ bowling. And, if Royals were hoping for some Yusuf Pathan magic, it wasn’t coming.

Anil Kumble’s decision to bring back Dale Steyn worked immediately as the speedster knocked out the big-hitter with a short of the length delivery, which beat his tentative defence and crashed into the stumps. If Rajasthan managed to reach a decent score after being 72 for 6, it was thanks to some dedicated batting from Raut and Voges. Neither could go for the big strokes but ensured that they at least rotated the strike, before finally delivery a couple of lusty hits at the very end.

The target was too miniscule for Bangalore though, despite the early loss of Kallis, who was castled by Kamran Khan by one that kept really low. What followed was the Pietersen show, an exhibition of ruthless batting, which reiterated why Vijay Mallya was so bent on having him in his franchise. Khan was given a lesson in how not to ball at the start of an innings.

The usually economical Siddharth Trivedi as well as Watson were also taken to task. And, when Shane Warne came on, Pietersen made his intentions clear immediately charging down the pitch, making the legend look hapless.

Pietersen raced to 62 from 28 balls. He was out the only way he could have got out. Adamant on getting the strike, he overpowered a refusal from Virat Kohli for a sharp single, but only had to return to the dugout, fuming. A couple more wickets fell instantly. However, Rajasthan were left to rue not having enough runs on the board.

A scintillating cameo of 22 from 8 balls by Robin Uthappa and a mature, unbeaten 66 by Kevin Pietersen was equally well aided by some atrocious fielding by Kings XI Punjab in front of their home crowd as the Royal Challengers Bangalore resurrected themselves in IPL 3 after a couple of disappointing losses.

Chasing 182, Bangalore batted smartly right throughout and despite the loss of some crucial wickets, got home safely by six wickets in the end. That said, this is a game Punjab should have won and have only themselves to blame for ending up on the wrong side yet again.

A number of fielders, skipper Kumar Sangakkara included, dropped what were sitters by international standards. To add insult to injury, Uthappa blasted speedster Brett Lee for two mighty sixes and a four at a time when Punjab were on top. 25 runs came off the over and the momentum had clearly swung the other way.

Earlier in the evening, the Punjab batters put up a rather impressive performance with bat to give their team some hope of winning their second game.

The innings was build around three equally significant contributions, the first of those came from the captain Sangakkara himself. Punjab had lost Shaun Marsh early to Vinay Kumar and needed to overcome the hiccup soon. Sangakkara proved to be the man, taking on the bowlers. He crunched eight boundaries and found good support in Manvinder Bisla, who contributed a useful 26 with the help of four fours before falling prey to the guile of Anil Kumble.

After Bisla’s dismissal, Punjab required Sangakkara to carry on. But, unfortunately for the struggling side, it wasn’t to be. While on 45 he tried to take on Dale Steyn and only managed to find the safe hands of Kallis in the deep. Sangakkara’s knock, coming off just 27 deliveries was highly attractive.

However, following his departure, Punjab desperately needed another partnership. And, that came in the form of the one between Ravi Bopara and Yuvraj Singh.

Following everything written in the papers regarding his differences with Sangakkara and the team management, Yuvraj must have been raring to prove a point. And that was evident in his strokeplay today. He lofted Kumble and Jacques Kallis into the stands and, in between, hit three powerful boundaries. But, like Sangakkara, he too perished without finishing off the job, caught by Cameron White off Kallis’ bowling.

Still Bopara’s steady batting and a couple of lofty hits by Irfan Pathan enabled Punjab to reach 181, a highly competitive score on a pitch that was going to slow down.

Punjab did not get off to a great start with the ball, thanks to another wayward effort by the disappointing S Sreesanth, who went on to drop the easiest of catches later in the game. They were lucky though as Shalabh Srivastava once again got his act right and sent back orange cap holder Kallis cheaply, getting him to edge an outswinger.

Manish Pandey (29) kept the runs flowing a steady rate until his unfortunate run-out. For most part though, Punjab continued to hold the ascendancy. Despite a good partnership between Virat Kohli and Pietersen, the run-rate had climbed to 12. But, one poor over from Lee and some unacceptably bad fielding from did them in.

Andrew Strauss‘ unbeaten 161 gave England an excellent start in the 2nd nPower test against Australia. Adding 196 for the opening wicket with Alastair Cook, England dominated the opening exchanges with some very ordinary bowling from Mitchell Johnson in particular.

Australia pegged England back in the final session, taking 4 English wickets as their middle order struggled against the swinging ball. England ended the day 364/6 with the game firmly in the balance.

The first action of the day came from Andrew Strauss, crashing a short, wide delivery from Mitchell Johnson to the cover boundary, two balls later Johnson drifted onto Strauss’ leg stump, and the ball got the same treatment, this time flicked to the mid wicket boundary.

Alastair Cook was then fortunate to survive, a fuller ball from Hilfenhaus edged just to the left of a diving Ricky Ponting. It was Johnson who was struggling however, in a repeat of his previous over, Strauss crashed a short wide ball square, then the next ball Johnson over compensated by bowling a full-ish ball on Strauss’ pads – again the ball was clipped behind square for four.

It wasn’t only Johnson who was being hit for boundaries, a Hilfenhaus short ball just sat up nicely for Cook to pull for four. England passed the 50 mark with little trouble after 15 overs. Johnson continued to bowl some real loose deliveries – which – like the rest of the of them – got the treatment for Alastair Cook. In 7 overs Johnson was going at nearly 7 runs an over – and had conceeded 10 boundaries.

Australia's Ben Hilfenhaus (C) celebrates taking the wicket of England's Ravi Bopara (L) in 2009 Ashes npower Test Series Second Test First Day

Peter Siddle was causing problems using the slope to move the ball away from the left handers. Cook in particular left a couple of deliveries that were mighty close to his stumps. Without success from the other end, Ponting turned to spinner Nathan Hauritz to try and make the breakthrough. England reached 100 without loss off 24.3 overs.

England continued their dominance right up until the lunchbreak – the Australian seamers struggling with their accuracy – and England entering lunch 126 without loss – without question England’s session.

After the break control was still illuding Ricky Ponting, Cook taking on Nathan Hauritz with a slog sweep over mid wicket for 4. Australia began to make mistakes, Ben Hilfenhaus bought an edge from Andrew Strauss, only to hear the no ball call from the umpire – Brad Haddin dropping the ball aswell could do little to help his confidence. Andrew Strauss bought up his 50 two balls later as England passed 150 without blemish.

If things weren’t bad enough for Ricky Ponting, they got worse when Nathan Hauritz dislocated a finger on his spinning hand attempting to claim a return catch off Andrew Strauss , Marcus North was rushed into the attack mid over.

England simply kept motoring along, as Mitchell Johnson’s return to the attack bought him the same struggles as in the morning session. But as normally happens with wayward bowling, Johnson got one on the straight and narrow, Cook was trapped in front LBW for 95, England were 196/1.

Ravi Bopara came out and played his shots, but his aggression didn’t last very long, as he was too trapped LBW by Ben Hilfenhaus – 18 off 19 balls – a whole lot of nothing. Two out swinging deliveries followed by one which holds its line.

Hiflenhaus immeadiatly caused Kevin Pietersen problems with the swinging ball, Pietersen playing and missing a couple of times in his first over. On the stroke of tea, Pietersen was caught all ends up by a short ball, an attempted hook that – in the end – was played so badly and uncontrollably, it didn’t fall to a fielder. With Pietersen safely off strike, Andrew Strauss struck a three through backward point to bring up his hundred off 178 balls.

Peter Siddle struck after tea, a feather edge from a driving Kevin Pietersen, caught begind, 267/3 and Australia were beginning to creep back into the game. Siddle continued to trouble – Strauss flashing at one that flew through Michael Hussey at gully for 4.

Paul Collingwood was unable to build on his match saving knock at Cardiff, advancing down the wicket against Michael Clarke, he could only skew a ball to Peter Siddle. Matt Prior fell quickly – likewise at Cardiff – to the in swinger off Mitchell Johnson through the gate. Australia weren’t done there, Andrew Flintoff edging Hilfenhaus to Ricky Ponting – England now floundering on 333/6 and struggling against the swinging ball.

Andrew Strauss passed 150 – as he and Stuart Broad batted through to the end of the day , Strauss 161 not out, England 364/6 – the game in the balance once again.