Abu Dhabi: Kevin Pietersen produced yet another spectacular batting performance. On a difficult wicket he hit an unbeaten 62 to ensure England a challenging total.
He even hit the last ball of the England innings from Aizaz Cheema for a six and that shot turned out to crucial in the outcome of the match as his team won by five runs.
“It was a difficult wicket to bat. I found it quite hard to score really quickly, and they were quite big boundaries as well,” remarked Pietersen, after bagging the man of the match and the man of the series awards.
Despite dominating the bowling, he went on to praise the Pakistan bowlers.
“The Pakistani bowlers are fantastic bowlers. Saeed Ajmal is world-class; the angle (Mohammad) Hafeez was bowling with was fantastic, and Umar Gul is very good with reverse-swing. So we had our work cut out for us,” he said.
According to Pietersen his captain Stuart Broad and Jade Dernbach’s overs were responsible for the Monday night’s victory.
“We had our death bowling again. Broady (Stuart Broad) at the end bowling in the channel, getting reverse-swing, and then Jade (Dernbach) with that slower ball for a spectacular last ball.”
Pietersen who struggled for form in the early part of the series brought about a huge transformation in his form through a slight change in his technique.
The net result was that along with brilliant form England too staged a comeback after the huge defeat in the Test series to win the One-dayers and Twenty20 series.
“It was an exceptional end after a slow start. I think full credit to the bowlers who bowled throughout the whole series. Our batters did get stuck in the Test series against the spinners but between Test two and three we decided we’ve got try and fix something and I do believe that we are on our way to fixing a problem of playing spin in the sub continent. So the way we finished the tournament is fantastic. The batters and bowlers can have a nice week off and it will be back to business in Sri Lanka soon.”
