Pietersen leads England recovery

12 April 2012

Kevin Pietersen provided an aggressive response to the loss of two early wickets when England finally began their first innings after the third day of the final Test was delayed by fog.

The England captain raced to an unbeaten 28 off 39 balls, which included five boundaries, after his side had slumped to one for two in reply to India's 453 when play began at the PCA Stadium an hour and a half late.

Pietersen's defiant innings helped the tourists reach 57 for two at lunch on the third day having overcome a shaky start as India captain MS Dhoni attempted to unsettle him with psychological games.

Left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan had already given India a flying start after trapping Andrew Strauss lbw with his first ball, while Ishant Sharma continued Ian Bell's dismal run of form by removing his middle stump with his first delivery.

But instead of continuing with Zaheer following his successful first over, Dhoni turned to the occasional off-spin of Yuvraj Singh who has waged a running battle with Pietersen through the series.

It almost proved an inspired tactic when Pietersen was nearly bowled off an inside edge from the first delivery before almost picking out extra cover with a drive off the final ball of the over.

Yuvraj was taken off after that first over and Pietersen took the game to India with a series of boundaries to ease England's situation with an unbroken 56-run partnership alongside opener Alastair Cook.

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