He may no longer be England’s captain, but on a torrid first day at Sabina Park, Kevin Pietersen ensured he would remain the most talked-about cricketer in the land
The Bulletin by Andrew Miller04-Feb-2009England 236 for 5 (Flintoff 43*, Prior 27*) v West Indies
Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff gave England the edge in contrasting styles © PA Photos
He may no longer be England’s captain, but on a torrid first day at Sabina Park, Kevin Pietersen ensured he would remain the most talked-about cricketer in the land, both for the innings he produced – a guts-and-glory 97 from 172 balls, out of a team total of 236 for 5 – but also for the manner of his dismissal. In a passage of play reminiscent of last summer’s Edgbaston Test against South Africa (a match, incidentally, that England went onto lose) Pietersen turned on the style only to tumble off the catwalk with one bold stroke too many.The beneficiary, then as now, was an under-rated left-arm spinner. For Paul Harris, read Sulieman Benn, whose end-of-day figures of 33-10-64-2 did scant justice to the discipline and menace that he brought to the West Indian performance. The tallest man in the game at 6’7″, Benn used his height superbly to create leaping bounce and extract sharp turn even before lunch on the first day. In between whiles he beat the edge almost at will, not least that of Andrew Flintoff, who endured grittily to reach a vital 43 from 138 balls at the close.Sabina Park may not be the fear factory of days gone by – images of Patrick Patterson tearing in from the sightscreen have long since faded to sepia – but survival was nonetheless a fearful prospect for England’s batsmen. Between them the spinners, Benn and Chris Gayle, bowled 51 of the 88 overs in the day, and bouncers were such a rarity that Flintoff was struck painfully on the elbow by one of the few that pitched in the bowler’s half. It wasn’t exactly the bloodlust with which tours of the Caribbean have traditionally been launched, but the day was no less fascinating for that.Andrew Strauss, in his first appearance as England’s official captain after five stand-in performances in 2006 and 2007, won a good toss on a typically dry and brown-baked wicket, but any blithe assumptions about the challenge that lay ahead were soon scotched. Strauss himself cut an anxious figure in a curious 15-ball stay. He might have been caught in the slips twice in consecutive overs off Jerome Taylor but then edged the same bowler to the keeper in the third, while his opening partner, Alastair Cook, fared little better. He hung around for longer in reaching 4 from 20 balls, but then flapped a rare short ball from Daren Powell to mid-on.At 31 for 2, Pietersen already had a rebuilding exercise to deal with, and he got off the mark in typical fashion – a hop across his stumps and a suicidal quick single to midwicket. Thereafter, however, he settled into his natural attacking rhythm, imposing at the crease but (until his fatal final flurry) rarely over-reaching. At the other end, it was Ian Bell who earned England’s initial style points. No-one, not even Pietersen, had entered this match under so much scrutiny, and yet Bell raced into the 20s with some typically silken strokes including a clip through midwicket and a sweet drive down the ground. But looking classy has never been Bell’s problem, it’s the substance behind his innings that has been more problematic, and when he edged Chris Gayle’s arm-ball to slip with moments to go before lunch, it was another untimely black mark against his temperament.England went to lunch on 73 for 3, and perfectly set up for a fall. After the break, it was over to Benn, who bowled unchanged all the way until the 79th over of the day. Pietersen danced in his crease in an attempt to break the shackles, but found the field with every attacking stroke. Paul Collingwood was the right sort of attritional cricketer to have for such a situation, but after adding 23 runs in 17 overs, he attempted an over-ambitious sweep against a full-length delivery from Benn that struck him so plumb in front of middle that there was no point in wasting one of England’s two reviews on the decision.Pietersen did cut loose a touch in the session – he brought up his fifty (from 115 balls, his second-slowest in Tests) with two fours in three balls against Powell, then later laced a rare long-hop from the same bowler through midwicket. But it was nothing compared to the jawdropping passage of play that eventually led directly to his downfall.Pietersen emerged from tea with his mood transformed. Suddenly he was clobbering the ball to the boundary at will, and a 16th Test century seemed an inevitability. Benn, so long his tormentor, was scorched through the covers for four, then back down the ground for another four, then hoisted into the stands for a massive six. Gayle, to his credit, refused to scatter his close fielders, and Benn carried on flighting his deliveries. Having hurtled from 83 to 97 in three brutal deliveries, Pietersen went for the big wind-up, got a spiralling top-edge, and was trooping back to the pavilion even before Denesh Ramdin had claimed the catch.At the other end, however, Flintoff continued to graft relentlessly. He is never the most comfortable batsman against spin, and Benn came close to finishing him on numerous occasions with a succession of ripping deliveries that burst off the pitch and over his stumps. But by the close, he was still there with Matt Prior steadfast alongside him. The pair, almost unnoticed in the aftermath of Pietersen’s frenzy, had added a crucial unbeaten stand of 56 to ensure that England finished a tough day with their noses ever so slightly in front.