Comeback man Kevin Pietersen warmed up with a century for the upcoming Test series with a strokeful 110 against Haryana in visitors’ final practice game even as skipper Alastair Cook missed out on his second consecutive ton, says a report in The Tribune, adding that Pietersen smashed a 94-ball 110 before retiring hurt to let his colleagues get some batting practice as England reached a strong 408 for three on day one of the game.
“Left-handed Cook, who did not play against Mumbai A, yet again batted splendidly but missed out on his century by three runs after electing to bat. Ian Bell (57) and Samit Patel (11) were at the crease when stumps were draw for the day at Sardar Patel Stadium B Ground. Bell has already smashed nine boundaries, including three sixes in his innings,” says the report.
“Except for skipper Amit Mishra, none of Haryana’s bowlers has played international cricket and both Pietersen and Cook relished the batting practice ahead of the Test grind. Mishra took two of the three England wickets to fall,” adds the report.
Meanwhile The Hindu reports that Pietersen, who hit 16 fours and three sixes, is the fourth England batsman to hit a century after arriving in India with Cook and Samit Patel reaching the three-figure mark against India ‘A’. Reserve wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow had stroked his way to a hundred against Mumbai ‘A’ in the last game.
“Cook, who was dropped early in his innings, scored a boundary-filled 97 with 18 hits to the fence. Nick Compton (74) also staked a claim for the opening slot in the first Test with his second successive half-century. The openers put on 166 before Cook was caught by wicketkeeper Sandeep Singh off spinner Jayant Yadav. Jonathan Trott replaced the skipper at the wicket and he too got some runs ahead of the first Test. In the company of Compton, Trott added 45 runs before the former was trapped in front of the wicket by Mishra,” says the reports, adding that Compton, who played 111 dot balls during his stay at the crease, hit nine boundaries and a six in his 144-ball innings.
Compton’s fall brought Pietersen to the wicket. He began with a boundary, a flick to mid-wicket off Amit Vashisht before hitting two more crisp boundaries off the spinners.
Meanwhile Hindustan Times reports that for a long period, 50 overs to be precise, it appeared Amit Mishra's inclusion in the Haryana line-up was just ornamental. “All this while the leg-spinner and skipper had looked content fielding, shining the ball for his bowlers, and, perhaps, hoping they would pick up the wickets,” says the report, adding that and, just when that notion began to acquire a realistic hue, the diminutive spinner finally walked up to the stumps, with the game closer to tea than lunch, and began his muchanticipated spell.
“He went on to bowl eight overs on the trot, picking up two wickets --- opener Nick Compton and Jonathan Trott. He sent down three more overs towards the end of play to take the tally to 11 out of the 90 bowled on the first day of the four-day tie on Thursday. Quite clearly, Haryana chose not to make optimum use of their best bowler. The man who was part of the India set-up not too long ago, simply under-bowled himself. And it would be naive to think it was merely by chance,” says the report.
“It could be argued that the conditions weren't conducive for the leg-spinner on the first day on a rather green track at the 'B' ground of the Sardar Patel Stadium, venue for the first Test starting on November 15 but when the opposing batsmen are blasting the other bowlers to such an extent to pile up 408/3 in a day's play, the team's best bowler would be expected to bowl much more than what Mishra did,” says the report.