KP nuts about double ton

Kevin Pietersen was delighted to finally beat his 158 hoodoo

Kevin Pietersen checked out of his one-man ‘158 club’ with a maiden Test double hundred which helped to put England on course for a landslide win over West Indies.

The South Africa-born batsman faced a challenge for the headlines on day two of the second Test at Headingley Carnegie from Ryan Sidebottom, who took six wickets in what used to be his own back yard.

The upshot of Pietersen’s 226 in England’s 570 for seven declared and left-arm seamer Sidebottom’s match figures of six for 54 so far was that West Indies still trail by 402, on 22 for two in their second innings after following on.

While Yorkshireman Sidebottom was able to reflect on a dream ‘homecoming’ of his own - after Michael Vaughan had made a hundred in his first Test back in 18 months on Friday - Pietersen had the satisfaction of bettering 158 for the first time.

That bizarre ‘bogey’ career best had stumped him three times at this level - and he was determined it would not happen again.

“I was very happy to get past it,” he said, having begun this morning with an unbeaten 130 to his name already.

“On 156, I was definitely having a go at something. I wasn’t going to go 157, 158 - I was going to try to go past with a boundary.”

Kevin Pietersen made batting look easy at Headingley

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In the end, a cut for four did the job - one of 24 boundaries, and two sixes, in a 226-ball stay which encompassed a sixth-wicket stand of 160 with Matthew Prior (75).

Pietersen, who was eventually last out for the highest individual Test score by an English batsman for 17 years, is delighted to have proved to himself and others that he can really ’go big’.

“It’s something I’ve been criticised for, not getting big scores - something everybody thinks I should be doing regularly,” he said.

“But it was there for me to build an innings. That’s what I concentrated on and what I wanted to do.”

Sidebottom broke new ground too - having gone wicketless in his solitary previous Test, six years ago.

“It has been a long time,” said the Nottinghamshire and former Yorkshire bowler, who shared the nine wickets with Liam Plunkett (three for 35) and Steve Harmison in the Windies’ first innings.

“I’ve gone away and worked hard on my game,” he added.

“The guys here have made me feel really welcome - and I’ve felt at home, being at Headingley where I’ve played before.”

West Indies coach David Moore was upset with his side's batting display

West Indies coach David Moore was impressed with Sidebottom - but significantly less so with his own batsmen.

“Sidebottom was very disciplined, bowled with good control - was always pretty near to where he wanted to be, a good lesson to all bowlers,” he said.

“He was very impressive, particularly for a man who has been away from this level for so long,” the Australian added.

“The selectors have shown faith in him, and he has repaid them pretty well.”

Pietersen had implied he was under the impression Windies captain Ramnaresh Sarwan’s shoulder injury is so bad that his tour is over.

That is apparently not yet definitely the case, although Moore conceded Sarwan may be doubtful for the final two Tests.

“He’s not in great shape and will bat only if absolutely necessary, whenever it might be, and then we’ll assess him at the end of the Test match,” he reported.

The absence of Sarwan - unable to bat on Saturday and probably not in the second innings either - and a pre-match knee injury for another key batsman in Shivnarine Chanderpaul have dealt the Windies a rough hand.

But Moore insists the players who remain have to help themselves. “There were also four very poor shots this afternoon,” he pointed out.

“You can blame some things on your luck, but we have to take responsibility.

“Four bad shots isn’t bad luck. I can’t make any excuses for them.”