KP relieved to end drought

Kevin Pietersen clips the ball into the leg side on his way to a superb 129 © Getty Images

Buy this photo

View photo story

Kevin Pietersen admitted he has been frustrated with his failure to make big scores after ending his barren spell with a vital century for England in the deciding Test against New Zealand.

The Hampshire batsman hit a brilliant 129 to help England recover from four for three and reach 240 for seven by the close of the opening day at McLean Park after they had won the toss and decided to bat first on a flat-looking pitch.

England had slumped to 36 for four inside the first 24 overs but Pietersen, who had gone 10 Test innings without even scoring a half-century, brought up his 11th Test century to at least give them a chance of competing in the remainder of the Test.

“It was a pretty big hole to be in, especially losing the top three batters so it was a day we had to scrap again,” admitted Pietersen, who hit a six and 12 fours during his innings.

“We’ve scrapped this whole series and we had to do that again. I’m really happy with the way I played and I’m really happy with the outcome.

“I’ve been playing well in the five Test matches leading up to this and I’ve got a 30 or 40 in every single Test, I’ve just not been able to go on.

“I don’t know the reason and that’s frustrating because I let a lot of people down who come to watch all the time. I like to entertain and play good innings so it’s been frustrating I haven’t been doing that.

Debutant Tim Southee bowls to Pietersen - he claimed 3-46 on the first day © Getty Images

Buy this photo

“It’s just been a tough time, but that’s the cycle of life and these things happen and hopefully I’ve come through it now and I continue scoring - I’m pretty happy with 11 hundreds in 36 games.”

It was the first barren streak of Pietersen’s illustrious career and he was determined to end it in the final Test, stressing: “I’m not a robot. I always said I was going to go through a patch where I wasn’t scoring for a while and hopefully that patch has ended and the cricket gods are with me now.

“You go through series and months when you go through a drought. It happens to everybody - even Ricky Ponting in Australia has gone through it in the one-dayers. How fun would life be if everything was hunky dory all the time?”

Pietersen’s innings held England together after debutant seamer Tim Southee claimed two wickets in his first spell and then returned with the new ball to dismiss the top scorer.

But Pietersen believes England are still in the Test having battled their way to a more respectable score by the close with Stuart Broad hitting a Test-best unbeaten 42.

“From a team point of view, we’ve got 240 and if the lads stick it out for an hour or even until lunch tomorrow and try and get 300 plus then we’re definitely not out of the Test match,” he added.

Southee, man of the tournament in the recent Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia, got off to the perfect start by trapping Michael Vaughan with his 11th ball in Test cricket and followed up by dismissing Andrew Strauss in his next over.

“It was good to get it out of the way,” admitted 19-year-old Southee.

“There were a few nerves there on the first day but to get a wicket under your belt early relieves a bit of pressure and I went from there.”