Pietersen Fails Again in the Ipl
Booed and struggling for form, Kevin Pietersen is out for 11 as his Bangalore side suffer a second defeat in three days
Kevin Pietersen's Indian Premier League adventure is in danger of falling flat. Dismissed first ball on Monday and publicly denounced for his subsequent show of dissent by the league's chairman, Lalit Modi, the morning after, Pietersen was last night stumped for 11 off a bowler bought at auction for $30,000 – a fraction of Pietersen's $1.55m valuation – as Bangalore Royal Challengers slipped to a second defeat in three days.
The Newlands crowd, sections of which booed him to the wicket, found the whole thing a hoot. Pietersen always knew he risked playing the role of pantomime villain in the country of his birth. No amount of tactful references to the "kind, friendly people" of South Africa will persuade locals that they have anything other than a turncoat in their midst. The sign held up by a female spectator reading "KP, you bowl me over" was a lone voice of support.
"Unfortunately there's always going to be a small part of the crowd that does boo," he said. "That's what I had to deal with on my last tour here [in 2004-05]. I won't get too many cheers come the end of the year when I play four Tests and seven one-day internationals, so I just deal with it."
For a while Pietersen threatened to keep them quiet. He removed Deccan Chargers' danger man, Adam Gilchrist, in his second over after Gilchrist's 45-ball 71 had rolled back all 37 of his years in glorious fashion, then had the New Zealander Scott Styris caught at long-off in his third.
But when he walked out to bat at 19 for two in reply to 184 for six, the tournament's biggest total to date, prospects looked bleak. A sweep for four off Pragyan Ojha belied a generally fidgety approach and the loss of Robin Uthappa made Bangalore's life even harder. At the 10-over time-out they needed a further 128 but in the first over after the break Pietersen advanced on Ojha, a 22-year-old slow left-armer from Hyderabad, missed and was stumped by yards. Bangalore ended up losing by 24 runs.
Redemption must come quickly and Pietersen can start by leading his side to victory over Kings XI Punjab in Durban tomorrow. Another defeat will make it three out of four – which will not go down well with Bangalore's billionaire owner Vijay Mallya. The pressure is mounting.
The Newlands crowd, sections of which booed him to the wicket, found the whole thing a hoot. Pietersen always knew he risked playing the role of pantomime villain in the country of his birth. No amount of tactful references to the "kind, friendly people" of South Africa will persuade locals that they have anything other than a turncoat in their midst. The sign held up by a female spectator reading "KP, you bowl me over" was a lone voice of support.
"Unfortunately there's always going to be a small part of the crowd that does boo," he said. "That's what I had to deal with on my last tour here [in 2004-05]. I won't get too many cheers come the end of the year when I play four Tests and seven one-day internationals, so I just deal with it."
For a while Pietersen threatened to keep them quiet. He removed Deccan Chargers' danger man, Adam Gilchrist, in his second over after Gilchrist's 45-ball 71 had rolled back all 37 of his years in glorious fashion, then had the New Zealander Scott Styris caught at long-off in his third.
But when he walked out to bat at 19 for two in reply to 184 for six, the tournament's biggest total to date, prospects looked bleak. A sweep for four off Pragyan Ojha belied a generally fidgety approach and the loss of Robin Uthappa made Bangalore's life even harder. At the 10-over time-out they needed a further 128 but in the first over after the break Pietersen advanced on Ojha, a 22-year-old slow left-armer from Hyderabad, missed and was stumped by yards. Bangalore ended up losing by 24 runs.
Redemption must come quickly and Pietersen can start by leading his side to victory over Kings XI Punjab in Durban tomorrow. Another defeat will make it three out of four – which will not go down well with Bangalore's billionaire owner Vijay Mallya. The pressure is mounting.
Use the feedback form below to submit your comments.
Use the form below to email this article to your friends.
- Kevin Pietersen's Progress is a Worry
- Kevin Pietersen Should Trust Attacking Instincts, Says Michael Vaughan
- Kevin Pietersen's Emphasis on Me, Myself and I Detrimental to England
- Kevin Pietersen Unrepentant Over Paddle-sweep Dismissal
- Kevin Pietersen Falls Cheaply, But England Still Shade Day One
- Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood Lead England Fightback Against Australia
- Kevin Pietersen Warns Australia: England Are Not Scared
- Kevin Pietersen Mocks Mitchell Johnson's All-rounder Tag
- Pain-free Kevin Pietersen Fit and Raring to Go for the Ashes
- Kevin Pietersen Takes Diva's Delight As England's Returning Hero
- Kevin Pietersen Guides England Past Pakistan – and Into the Super Eights
- Kevin Pietersen Sits Out Half a Training Session to Put England on Fitness Alert
- Petulant Kevin Pietersen Told to Start Setting the Right Example
- Kevin Pietersen Warned By Ipl for Reaction to Falling to Muralitharan
- Pietersen's England History Means Nothing: Bangalore Coach
- Kevin Pietersen is Not an Ear-biter, But Nor Would He Last Long on a Kibbutz
- Big Benn Strikes After Pietersen Lifts England
- A Peek at the Diary of ... Kevin Pietersen
- Kevin Pietersen No Match for Captain Wangler
- Pietersen Practises at Lord's for the First Time Since Losing Captaincy