Kevin Pietersen proved bitter again for Pakistan

Kevin Pietersen thrashed consecutive ton against Pakistan as England won the fourth and last One Day International and claimed a whitewash.

Kevin Pietersen scored another ton in the last ODI against Pakistan
Kevin Pietersen scored another ton in the last ODI against Pakistan

Englishmen took the sweet revenge as they were beaten in the three Test series 0-3 by Pakistan and they suffered humiliation in the earlier part of their trip.

Pakistan was bowled out for 237 runs in the measured 50 overs and England achieved the target by smashing 241 runs in 49.2 overs.

Pietersen was declared ‘Player of the match’ for his match winning inning and Alastair Cook was honoured with the ‘Player of the series’ for his tremendous batting performance during the series.

The match took place at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on February 21, 2012, which was a neutral venue.

Earlier, Misbah-Ul-Haq won the toss and opted to bat first on a placid wicket but once again they had a dismal start when Mohammad Hafeez was gone for one in the second over. The young blood proved vital for Pakistan as Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq joined in together and demonstrated positive cricket.

The duo brought some stability to the innings, Asad was more aggressive of the two as Azhar secured the other end. The earlier got his sixth ODI fifty in the 19th over and hundred of the innings was achieved in the 21st over.

Asad was finally bowled by Tim Bresnan for 65 runs when he chopped the ball on to the stumps. The second wicket partnership added 111 runs which was a nice revival which could not be capitalized by the incoming batsmen. Umar Akmal gifted his wicket for 12 and Azhar went back to the pavilion for 58 when he was looking good.

Misbah and the old war horse, Shoaib Malik accumulated 58 runs for the fifth wicket as the later was declared leg before wicket for 23. Misbah was the lone fighter and scored 46 runs as the wicket started tumbling at the other end and the whole team was bundled out for 237 runs in exact 50 overs.

Jade Dernbach was the star performer with four wickets, Steven Finn and the debutant Danny Briggs shared two wickets each as Bresnan claimed one wicket.

England had a bad start also when they lost their Captain and in-form batsman Alastair Cook for four runs. The other opener Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott added 46 runs for the second wicket as the later went back for 15.

England was in critical situation when they had lost four wickets for 68 runs in 16 overs and the things were becoming difficult for them. Craig Kieswetter joined in with Pietersen and they started their journey towards prosperity. They kept the score board moving without taking any risks and scored odd boundaries in between their innings.

The sixth wicket association proved fatal for Pakistan as England added 109 runs as Kieswetter was unluckily run out for 43 runs. The fifth wicket went down at 177 runs when Samit Patel walked in the centre and England required 61 runs from the last ten overs.

Pietersen hammered his ninth ODI ton on the fifth ball of the 43rd over and escalated the attack thereafter. England was one stroke away from victory when he lost his wicket for 130 runs off 197 balls with two huge sixes and 12 fours.

Bresnan dispatched the second ball of the last over to the third man boundary as England chased the target by scoring 241 runs with four wickets in hand.

Saeed Ajmal was the highest wicket taker with three, Junaid Khan and Abdur Rehman shared one wicket each.
England won the match by four wickets and humiliated Pakistan with a whitewash by clinching the series 4-0.


Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.