Powerplay potential for Pietersen

Andrew Flintoff prospered hitting down the ground in England's batting powerplay

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Kevin Pietersen was encouraged with the fightback made by himself and Andrew Flintoff in the batting powerplay during England’s defeat in the second one-day international in Indore.

India rode to victory thanks to a second successive century from Yuvraj Singh, whose 118 from 122 balls left England with a target of 293 to level the series.

The tourists reached 101 for two in response as Matt Prior (38) and Owais Shah (58) put on 96 for the second wicket, but Yuvraj’s part-time left-arm spin yielded four wickets and sent England crashing to defeat.

Despite England's difficulty against Yuvraj’s spin, they put themselves in a position to win the match in the batting powerplay.

Pietersen combined up with Andrew Flintoff to add 59 in the five-over period to leave them needing 110 in the final 13 overs.

"I definitely thought victory could have been ours during that powerplay," said Pietersen.

“I thought if Fred and I used that powerplay well without slogging or silly hitting and came out of it okay, we'd give ourselves a chance.

"We made a decision, we both went hard at it and scored 59 in the powerplay and the momentum came back with us.

“Unfortunately, we failed to capitalise on that too. But we were much more competitive and that was great."

Kevin Pietersen sweeps in his 33, but his dismissal signalled the end of England's hopes in Indore

Their 74-run stand off 70 balls came to an abrupt halt in the next over, however, with Yuvraj dismissing them both in the space of four balls to begin a collapse which saw the last seven wickets lost for only 55 runs.

It was another stunning display from Yuvraj, who has almost certainly done enough to earn a recall to India's Test side next month as a replacement for the retired Sourav Ganguly.

It could have been so different had England built on a promising start, with Stuart Broad claiming three wickets in a five-over new-ball spell to leave India reeling on 29 for three as Yuvraj walked to the crease in the eighth over.

But for the second successive match Yuvraj played almost faultlessly, remaining patient to begin with before accelerating during a crucial partnership of 134 off 126 balls with opener Gautam Gambhir.

After Yuvraj finally fell with six overs remaining, having hit 15 fours and two sixes, he had established a platform for all-rounder Yusuf Pathan to hit an unbeaten 50 from 29 balls and help add 82 in the final 10 overs.

"I think we definitely failed to capitalise on our start, but then again when you've got a guy batting like Yuvraj Singh it's pretty difficult," admitted Pietersen.

"He's a game-breaker, he's a guy who wins a game and when he's batting the way he is it's very difficult to get him out.

“They've got strength in depth in their batting, too, and they used it."