 Pietersen survived three dropped catches and numerous lbw appeals
Kevin Pietersen is one of those players who just can't seem to stay out of the spotlight, no matter what sort of form he is in. Dropped three times during his innings of 80, the former England captain courted controversy when he backed away just moments before Mohammad Asif was about to deliver the ball, distracted by the movement of batting partner Jonathan Trott during the morning session. But instead of allowing the ball to pass, he half-heartedly looped a catch to Salman Butt at mid-off. The Pakistan captain looked mystified when umpire Marais Erasmus called a dead ball, but as soon as the signal is made it should be the end of the matter.  | Pietersen will have to work on the ball spinning away from his bat and in particular Saeed Ajmal's "doosra" |
KP was clearly distracted and pulled away, although he acknowledged afterwards he should have left the ball well alone. That said, the umpire is not going to signal dead ball as soon as it happened because everything happened so quickly. Once a dead ball is called you can't overturn it - it's fact, like calling 'over'. The incident added yet another twist on what was a very curious knock. Pietersen admitted it wasn't one of his best innings, but what was impressive was his ability to put his head down and keep fighting, exactly what a captain wants to see from a struggling batsman. However, Pietersen will have to work on the ball spinning away from his bat and in particular Saeed Ajmal's "doosra". Pietersen favours the leg side, but hitting against the spin is a very big risk to take, especially when the off-spinner comes around the wicket. That vulnerability led to his downfall as he closed the face of the bat, lobbing a simple leading-edge catch to Ajmal, the first of his five wickets. He will have to work on that flaw, yet another glitch to add to his problem with left-arm spinners. However, Pietersen is a resilient character and will work hard alongside England batting coach Graham Gooch to rectify the problem. Ajmal will need to be careful about his "doosra", which is very close to the legal 15-degree flexion of the elbow. It's impossible to tell with the naked eye but that's not taking anything away from the off-spinner's performance at Edgbaston. But Pakistan's fielding goes from the ridiculous to the unbelievable. There is clearly an issue with low confidence, which is contagious and has spread to the outfield. | 606: DEBATE |
Had all the catches been taken, England would only have scored 122, which would have created a completely different Test match. And the next Test is at The Oval, which is one of the hardest grounds for catching because of the surrounding red-brick buildings. As for this Edgbaston pitch, it's leaving little indentations, almost like a divots, encouraging the ball to seam off the wicket or keep low. However, England's trio of seamers have made the ball talk on and off the pitch. A lot of this is down to the current batch of Duke balls. The darker, deep cherry-red balls have a tendency to swing more than lighter ones, while the humid and overcast conditions coupled with two very seam-friendly pitches have been a fast bowler's delight. Pakistan face an impossible job and given the way England's seamers are bowling right now, they're likely to go 2-0 down before the end of the third day. Jonathan Agnew was speaking to BBC Sport's Pranav Soneji
| 
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
Bookmark with:
What are these?