Defining moment in Pietersen's career today

St Lucia:  Pietersen left St Lucia yesterday heading for Barbados and a date in the World Twenty20 final. It is during such matches that careers can be defined and while Twenty20 will never provide the lasting glories of Test cricket, a victory today would bring home an achievement that has eluded England teams of the past.

Pietersen will be 30 next month and is at a crucial point in his career with enough time left on the clock for one final, prolonged phase of international success.

During this tournament he has begun that spell in commanding fashion. The timing and confidence at the crease hark back to his first series for England when he endured the abuse of his countrymen to score three one-day hundreds in South Africa.

He is a different person to the one who, on his last visit to St Lucia a year ago, confessed he was "at the end of my tether". A niggling Achilles' heel which would blow up into an Ashes-wrecking injury and the scars of a public sacking as England captain were fresh and raw.

Now he is settled both at the crease and off it, with the birth of his first child a week ago perhaps providing the counterbalance and reminder that runs and wickets only hold a certain place in life.

Neat flick

The timing of his son's arrival was perfect for England and meant that he missed a match when they had already qualified for the final four. There was no hint of jet lag when he returned against Sri Lanka for the semi-final, displaying the timing of a batsman at the peak of his form.

The flick for six off a Lasith Malinga slower ball flew to the boundary with minimal effort. We even saw a Pietersen cut shot, a rare sight for a front-foot player. The late cut off Malinga really belonged in the more rarefied surroundings of a Test hundred at Lord's rather than a Twenty20 chase. "I don't think it's overstating it," agreed Andy Flower yesterday when the England coach was asked if Pietersen is back to his best.

"I think he's in very good form. There should be a strong summer ahead for him. He has had an up and down 12 months but worked very hard in Bangladesh on a few things and from that hard work you now see a man very confident in the way he's going about things. Even for great athletes like him, hard work stands you in good stead."

Weakness

In Bangladesh Pietersen spent hours working on his game, particularly his weakness against left-arm spin, which accounted for his four dismissals in the Test series.

The first ball of left-arm spin he faced here, from Chris Gayle, was speared to the boundary. It was a statement of intent overlooked as the arguments over Duckworth-Lewis swirled. Barbados should provide runs. It will be fast and bouncy.

Pietersen revelled on its lively surface against South Africa as England qualified for the final four on the back of his best innings of the tournament.

He advanced at Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel as South Africa's quick bowlers were destroyed. But England are not a one-man act.

Michael Lumb and Craig Kieswetter have given him the platform to perform and Eoin Morgan provides back-up if Pietersen fails.

England have suddenly discovered a winning method and the country that invented Twenty20 cricket before, predictably, being left behind by everyone else now has the chance to redress the balance.