Five of the best knocks of Kevin Pietersen

2. 226 vs West Indies (Wisden Trophy, Leeds, 2007)

Kevin Pietersen 226 vs West Indies

Vaughan and Pietersen were at it once again; they combined together with the score at 91/2 in the 1st innings. While Vaughan was dismissed for 103 some 50 overs later, Pietersen was there till the end as England put up a mammoth 570 on the board. It is a common feature with most of Pietersen’s knocks. When he gets going, he usually stays there till the end and ends up getting the Man of the Match award. This time it was no different.

West Indies were clueless in their reply as the England pace attack ran through their line-up, allowing them to score just 146 in the first innings and an even lesser 141 the 2nd time they batted while following on. With a winning margin of an innings and 283 runs, it was one of their biggest wins ever.

Pietersen hit as many as 24 boundaries in his 226, but the striking feature of his innings was that it came in just 262 deliveries, A double hundred that fast is sure to effectively take the opposition away from the game, which is exactly what happened with West Indies. Pietersen was a part of a 160-run partnership with Matt Prior for the 6th wicket and an 81-run stand with fast bowler Liam Plunkett. There was no real venom in the West Indian attack, shared majorly by Daren Powell, Corey Collymore and Jerome Taylor.

There were extended delays on the 3rd and 4th day of the match due to rain, yet the game yielded a result with one full day of play remaining. It was the heaviest defeat ever for the Windies.