The Ashes 2013 - First Test, Trent Bridge: Five talking points for Day 3

4. Kevin Pietersen’s Innings

Kevin Pietersen has a native swagger that constantly pushes to express itself when he has the willow in his hand. It was thus a feeling of quiet satisfaction as he dug into his reserves of patience to stem the boiling storm on Day 2.

He was cautious, but more inclined to play his shots on Day 3. He struck twelve boundaries in his innings of 64 runs, which included some mesmerizing straight drives and a couple of courageous cover drives. It is a delight to watch him bat as he uses his feet to good effect making sure he reaches the pitch of the ball. It was a slightly unfortunate way of getting dismissed as he chopped a length delivery outside off-stump only see James Pattinson thump his chest in joy and relief. We saw glimpses of what can happen in the rest of the series.