Kevin Pietersen: The prodigy of modern age batting

Finally, fate intervened as he mistimed a shot and Damien Martyn ended his magnificent innings with a stupendous catch running through the midwicket boundary. The England scorecard read 122 at the time of his dismissal and frankly, it would have been a disaster, had he not shown stomach for this battle.

The battle was not quite over. After procuring a decent lead, Australia made up for their wayward batting in the first innings by a prudent display of batting in their second sojourn. Riding on half-centuries from Michael Clarke and Simon Katich, Australia put up a total of 384. The target was set and England had to chase 420 for an outright victory. The impossible term associated in this chase was apparent but more than a victory, the manner in which England had to go down mattered the most.

The second innings started off smoothly with Trescothick and Strauss taking control of the situation. At one point it seemed that England might even be looking for an upsetting win at the home of cricket. Trescothick was prudent to leave the balls outside off-stump and looked to play within his body. Strauss provided able company and together they kept Australia at bay for more than two precious hours.

England had resisted the potent new ball and Trescothick was set for a huge score when disaster struck in the form of Lee who provided Australia with the first breakthrough. Two more wickets fell cheaply and the writing was on the wall. Enter Pietersen. While some critics openly commented on the luck factor in the first innings as he raced to fifty aided by some ferocious (outrageous) shots (slogs), it seemed as though Pietersen walked out to prove them wrong.

He did not waste time in settling down. After having a measure of the bowlers and conditions, Pietersen unleashed an array of strokes ranging from the straight drive to the slog sweep to beautiful effect. Suddenly, the mighty Australian bowling unit looked like a bunch of school boys who were asked to wage a war against a raging monster.

Pietersen understood that the match was slipping away from the hands of England, but he decided to teach Australia the meaning of fear. Australia feared for the first time in a long time. Pietersen was severe to Warne in particular as he shuffled across upsetting his rhythm. It was a smart move and the Aussie seemed at a loss for an answer.

Wickets fell at the other end and England eventually lost the match by 239 runs. It was a humiliating defeat that too in an Ashes opener but England found a gem in Pietersen. He was relentless and daring, two qualities that shook the Australian pride which paved the way for England in the upcoming matches.

England were white-washed in the recent series and the blame has been thrust upon Pietersen. He has been dropped/rested (make what you will) from the ODI team and is being pressurized to retire. There are many worthier knocks of Pietersen that deserves a mention but I wrote about this match in particular to remind the England supporters on what they would be missing without this dynamic batsman walking in at number four. His courage knows no bounds and he has laid down his entire talent to serve England cricket.

Even in the recently concluded Ashes series, Pietersen was their best batsman. He is an experienced batsman and a fighter. He would definitely bounce back from this failure and prove that he is no pushover.

There are many fans who are waiting for his return to fan and I am one among them. Pietersen would be back!