Sport | Cricket
Hard work paid off — Pietersen
- By K.R. Nayar, Chief Cricket Writer
- Published: 00:00 February 23, 2012
Dubai: Kevin Pietersen was in a jovial mood after his second successive hundred helped England complete a 4-0 one-day series whitewash of Pakistan.
The innings of 130 was his best in one-day cricket, surpassing the 116 he scored against South Africa at Centurion in 2005.
"I'm allowed to say it was probably the best one I've played," he said with a smile after a spectacular innings that ended Pakistan's hopes of victory.
Pieterson anchored the run-chase after England lost captain Alastair Cook early.
"I like to really calm things down and just watch the ball and play it," Pieterson said.
"I thought that the total they had [237], if I batted for 50 overs and took the game deep and batted with a bit of experience, we could come close.
"I just wanted to take the game deep, and I wanted to target bowlers as well. I think that was the key to the success.
"You need experience, lots of it, in order to keep the situation very simple and back your ability.
"You also need a lot of confidence in your ability."
Working on spin
Pietersen has been working hard on playing the Pak-istan spinners since struggling during the Test series.
Pakistan played the final one-dayer with just one seamer in Junaid Khan.
"When they picked the team and I saw I knew they were going to bowl 40 overs of spin, I was like ‘Oh no!'," Pieterson said.
"But the hard work I've been putting in with Mushy [spin coach Mushtaq Ahmad] has paid off.
"I've spent hours and hours with him. I'm not the finished article by any stretch of the imagination."
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