King Pin

KP. Kevin Pietersen. King Pin. Just over three years ago, who would have thought that in 2008, a tall, brash, arrogant, loud-mouthed South African wearing a hairdo that closely resembled a skunk pelt, would be captain over all of England? Tony Greig must be foaming at the mouth.

KP played his first Test for England against Australia in 2005. There were some doubts about his Test match prospects but they were soon dispelled. The year 2005 was a recent high point for England and the ensuing years have been difficult. And now it is KP’s turn to have a go at being skipper. He started alright, too, scoring a neat 100.

Who knows how long it will last but there could be little doubt that KP will lead from the front, he won’t back down and it is very unlikely that a tearful resignation will ever be forthcoming. The fourth Test (a dead rubber) is fairly evenly poised, with South Africa fighting back after England lead on the first innings by 122 runs.

In the crucial third and deciding Test for India and Sri Lanka, it is Sri Lanka, lead by and unbeaten century from Sangakkara who have the advantage after tow days. Tendulkar, Dravid and Ganguly continue to unimpress with series averages of 16.2, 16.0 and 15.6.

And an update on the umpire referral system. In India’s first innings, Sri Lanka successfully had two negative lbw appeals over turned. India unsuccessfully referred two lbw dismissals. Batting on the second day, Sri Lanka made six referrals with half of them successful. India made one unsuccessful referral. The umpires seem to initially have got quite a few wrong this Test.

Sehwag the Sensational and Smith the Smug

Two excellent Test matches have just concluded. In the first, South Africa has wrapped up the four Test series by winning the third, and taking a 2-0 lead. This is their first series win in England since 1965. Of course, there was an absence of more than 20 years but it is still a long time. South Africa always had the upper hand but Collingwood (135) and Pietersen (94) combined to set South Africa a challenging target of 283. The Proteas did it in style, winning by five wickets, thanks to a matching winning 154 from the captain, Graeme Smith. English captain, Michael Vaughan fell on his sword following the match. Vaughan will not play in the final Test, at the Oval.

In Sri Lanka, India squared the series one all, with one to play. It was a match of twists and turns but it belonged to Sehwag. In the first innings, he carried the bat and scored 201 from a total of 329. He’s a sensation. Sehwag has had his detractors (mostly amongst the Indian selectors) but I don’t understand why. I’m not one of them. India plummeted from 0/167 to all out for 329 and Sehwag held it together. He also hit a quick 50 in the second innings to build a platform for a comfortable win in the end – 170 runs.

The referral trial continues and interestingly, the vast majority have been unsuccessful. In the second Test, there were 13 unsuccessful and 4 successful referrals.