Kevin Pietersen’s back-to-back century helps England cleansweep ODI Series 4-0

Tags: Pakistan v England 4th ODI at Dubai - Feb 21, 2012, Pakistan vs England in UAE 2011-12, Kevin Peter Pietersen, Alastair Nathan Cook, Jade Winston Dernbach, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Saeed Ajmal

Published on: Feb 21, 2012

Scorecard | Commentary | Graphs

Pakistan Vs England, 4th ODI at Dubai (Feb 21), The Jazz Cup Series 2012, Match Highlights

England took sweet revenge over Pakistan by cleansweeping the 4-match One Day Series 4-0. Alastair Cook’s team won the fourth and final ODI at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium by 4 wickets with just four ball to spare. Kevin Pietersen scored his second consecutive hundred to help England chase down a decent target of 238.

Batting first after winning the toss, Pakistan thanks to a solid 111-run stand for the 2nd wicket between youngsters Azhar Ali (58 from 89 balls with 5 fours) and Asad Shafiq (65 from 78 balls with 6 fours) could post a modest total of 237 all out in 50 overs. Apart from these two, Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq contributed 46 from 52 balls with a four and a six.

Kevin Pietersen got the Man of the Match awardThe English bowling attack led by pacer Jade Dernbach ensured that Pakistan couldn’t post anything huge by taking wickets at regular intervals. Dernbach playing only his first game of the series took an impressive 4 for 45 in 10 overs. Steven Finn helped himself to 2 for 42 while 20-year-old left-arm spinner Danny Briggs on debut took 2 for 39 in 10 overs. All-rounder Tim Bresnan who made his comeback after an elbow injury took 1 for 47 in 9 overs.

England stuttered in their run chase at 68 for 4 in 16 overs but the brilliance of Kevin Pietersen got them through to a fabulous victory. Opening the batting, Kevin Pietersen under pressure scored a superb 130 from 153 balls with a dozen fours and 2 sixes and got out only with two more runs to win for his side! This was a 9th ODI hundred for the 31-year-old Kevin Pietersen which got him the Man of the Match award.

For Pakistan, Saeed Ajmal was once again amongst the wickets, taking 3 for 62. Left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman opening the bowling took 1 for 31 in 10 overs and the other spinner Mohammad Hafeez bowled tightly for his 0 for 38 in 10 overs. For scoring two centuries and a half-century, Alastair Cook, the England Skipper got the Player of the Series award.

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