Pietersen's glorious homecoming

Scorecard
In terms of classical batsmanship, Pietersen may not look back on his first hundred in England colours with any great affection. But this was all about the ends justifying the means and the handful of narrow misses he endured in his never-less-than-engrossing 96-ball stay could probably be forgiven under the circumstances.

Only three days earlier, Pietersen had played his first international match in his native South Africa at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, where the locals had lived up to the stadium's nickname of the Bull Ring and been more than happy to remind him of his decision - treacherous in their eyes - to move to England, the land of his mother's birth.

On that occasion it took him 11 balls to get off the mark before he finished with an unbeaten 22 to help seal a Duckworth/Lewis-assisted win. Now, Goodyear Park in Bloemfontein was barely less voluble as Pietersen walked to the crease with England in some trouble at 67 for three in the 17th over. County cricket at Trent Bridge this most certainly was not.

As in Joburg, Pietersen took his time to settle: his first 30 balls brought him just 19 runs and no boundary, and it wasn't until he took two fours in an over off Jacques Kallis that he started to settle. His first fifty required 55 balls, which was pretty good going after a steady start; his second - including sixes off the apparently unhittable Shaun Pollock and the slightly more generous Andre Nel - took only 36. When he reached three figures, Wisden suggested "the kiss he planted on his helmet may have been the most passionate-looking ever witnessed on a cricket field".

All the while, Pietersen's stands of 80 with Michael Vaughan and 92 in 79 balls with Paul Collingwood were giving England hope, but that seemed to have faded when South Africa ended up needing only three runs off Kabir Ali's final six deliveries. Remarkably, England escaped with a tie. Without Pietersen's heroics, they wouldn't even have come close.