Andrew Strauss backs sending in Kevin Pietersen for the run chase – Cricket News Update
England captain, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AJ-Strauss-c964, has backed the decision of sending in all-rounder Kevin Pietersen as an opener on the final day of the second Test against South Africa, with England needing to chase down a total of 253 runs to win the match.
Strauss, who opens for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MJ-Prior-c1984 got out it was probably time to shut up shop.”
England, who are barely clinging to their number-one spot in Test cricket, needed to win this match to level the series, which http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 is leading by 1-0.
Strauss felt that the required tally was good enough to go after and the side formed the strategy to chase the total like a T20 game.
“It was a bit of a tall chase in the first place but it was certainly worth having a go. We just felt that if we let KP have a go, and then consolidate if he got out early, and then look at it a bit more and then try and get it into a Twenty20 situation towards the back end,” added the left-handed batsman.
England made a strong comeback in the series after an innings and 12-run drubbing in the first Test at the Oval. However, they still need to level the series in the third and final Test at Lord’s. A loss in the series finale would certainly cost them their top spot in the longest version of the game, something which the English are hoping to avoid.
Commemorating the outstanding performance by pacer http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SCJ-Broad-c2465 on the final day for taking five wickets, the England skipper opined, “I was delighted with Stuart Broad today. It’s nice to get into the South African order a little bit more.”
At stumps, on Monday, England hammered 130 runs in their second innings for the loss of four wickets with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AN-Cook-c1026 as the highest scorer for hammering a knock of 46 runs.
Meanwhile, the match saw outstanding batting performance from South Africa’s http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KP-Pietersen-c1806 from England that kept the match hanging in balance.
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