Pietersen battles through the gloom to lift Surrey
Kevin Pietersen had to battle against showers, bad light and the Gloucestershire attack in the bid to rediscover some batting form on the opening day of the County Championship Division Two match at Bristol
13-Sep-2010
Surrey 112 for 3 v Gloucestershire
Scorecard
Scorecard
Kevin Pietersen had to battle against showers, bad light and the
Gloucestershire attack in the bid to rediscover some batting form on the opening
day of the County Championship Division Two match at Bristol.
Only 27 overs were possible in four sessions, but Pietersen managed to end up
unbeaten on 40 in a Surrey total of 112 for 3. Rory Hamilton-Brown was 28
not out and the pair had added 67 for the fourth wicket.
Surrey had elected to bat first, despite the heavily overcast conditions and
were reduced to 45 for three as Jon Lewis, Anthony Ireland and Gemaal Hussain
shared the wickets.
Pietersen came in at 37 for 2 and got off the mark first ball with a shot
through the covers for three. The England batsman then off-drove Ireland for
four and whipped Hussain through midwicket for another boundary as he got into
his stride.
He was unbeaten on 16 at lunch, with Surrey 68 for 3, and after rain had
delayed the resumption until 1.40pm he took two more fours off the first over of
the afternoon session from James Franklin, both the result of well-timed cuts
off short deliveries.
Pietersen was soon confident enough to be marching down the wicket to
experienced seamer Jon Lewis and looked in little trouble in the bowler-friendly
conditions.
When Ireland dropped short, Pietersen pulled him for six over deep backward
square. By the time the umpires abandoned play for the day at 5pm he had also
struck five fours in facing 59 balls. Hamilton-Brown was typically positive in scoring his runs off 37 deliveries, with three fours, and together the pair dug Surrey out of a hole.
A stop-start day was signalled when the players had to run for cover after just
one ball. The game restarted at 11am and was uninterrupted until lunch.
Lewis made the breakthrough with the total on 15 as Jason Roy edged to Chris
Dent at second slip and departed for 11. Opening partner Tom Lancefield followed for the same score when he got a leading edge to Ireland and Hamish Marshall accepted the catch running around from third slip.
Mark Ramprakash had made 15 when he was undone by a lifter from Hussain, which
resulted in a catch for former Surrey wicketkeeper Jonathan Batty.
After lunch there was 25 minutes play before more rain, which came with Surrey
93 for 3 and Pietersen on 26. The players returned to the field at 3.35pm only to be forced off again 10 minutes later just after Pietersen had hit his six. That proved the final action as the clouds gathered and drizzle remained in the air.