Watch: Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen rolled back the years with a stunning T20 fifty in the Road Safety World Series, batting with the same fluency and authority that made him a white-ball superstar in his prime.
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Pietersen, 40, last played top-grade T20 cricket in 2018, retiring from all forms of the game later that year. In the ongoing Road Safety World Series, Pietersen is one of several retired players who have taken the field again, and is captaining England Legends in the T20 tournament being held in Raipur, India.
After blazing to a 17-ball 41 in the first game against Bangladesh on March 7, Pietersen looked in fine nick against the Sachin Tendulkar led India Legends on Tuesday, firing all cylinders with a 37-ball 75 that earned him the Player of the Match award.
Pietersen, opening the batting with Phil Mustard, raced to an 18-ball fifty by the seventh over of the innings, and ended on 75, powering England Legends to 188-7 in 20 overs. In response, India put on a valiant fight but ended up six runs short of the target.
Pietersen hit five sixes in his knock, all before he reached his fifty, crossing the milestone with back-to-back sixes off Yuvraj Singh’s left-arm spin.
You can watch Pietersen’s knock (interspersed with bits of Phil Mustard and Darren Maddy) from 0:00 to 4:20 –