Pietersen craves big runs

21 November 2008

Ravi Bopara's 60 in Kanpur serves as a reminder of the youngster's undoubted talent

Kevin Pietersen has urged England's batsmen to learn from their India counterparts if they are to be competitive in the remainder of their one-day international series.

Yesterday's defeat at Green Park, when India were awarded a 16-run victory under the Duckworth-Lewis method after bad light halted play nine overs prematurely, was marred by England's frustration at missing the opportunity to win the first tight finish of the series.

The tourists believed the 49-over match should have been shortened by more than just one over after a 45-minute delay to the start and also wanted the lunch interval to be shortened to take into account the fading light in Kanpur.

But that defeat has given India a 3-0 lead in the seven-match series and they now need only one victory from the remaining games to secure a series win, which they could seal by winning in Bangalore on Sunday.

Despite their more encouraging performance at Green Park, however, Pietersen believes his side will need to follow the lead shown by Yuvraj Singh in the series and build on promising starts to score centuries.

“Playing against spin is definitely something England's cricketers need to work on,” said Pietersen. “We've played in India for years now and there's only been a few centuries by England batsmen out here.

“Unfortunately playing in India you need to score big runs and when you get in you've got to get hundreds.

Yuvraj Singh sweeps on his way to 38 as he was unable to reach his third consecutive ton yesterday

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“We knew coming to India we needed to score hundreds to stay competitive and we haven't got a hundred yet. Hopefully in the next four games we can try and get four.”

The highest score by an England player in the series so far is Pietersen's 63 in the opening 158-run defeat in Rajkot and only two other players - Ravi Bopara and Owais Shah - have passed 50.

By contrast, Yuvraj alone has scored two centuries and India have had five other half centuries to underline the difference between the two sides during the opening three matches.

Yet despite their disappointing start to the series, Pietersen believes his side are not far away from competing, adding: “We're certainly getting closer.

“I think if we'd had a full game yesterday, we'd have definitely taken it close. We put a lot of pressure on them and there was plenty of aggression from the bowlers.

“But the thing we need to learn is that once we get a start we get hundreds. I'm sure if we do that, we'll be very competitive for the rest of the series.”