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KP saves
England's blushes at Napier |
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Scorecard
 England's
star batsman Kevin Pietersen finally came good
with his first century in 11 innings but the
tourists were down and out on the opening day of
the third and final test at Napier. England
struggled to get to 240 for 7 at the McLean Park
in what is the deciding match of the series
having elected to bat first.
England were rocked in the first
session by a 19-year-old debutant by the name
Tim Southee! The rookie medium pacer got rid of
Michael Vaughan and Andrew Strauss cheaply while
his partner Chris Martin made the score 4/3 in
the 7th over by sending back opener Alastair
Cook. After that triple blow, the visitors tried
to resurrect things through Pietersen and Bell
by a cautious approach. The next damage was done
by another debutant, Grant Elliott, the new all
rounder. Bell's scratchy innings was ended by
Elliott and with that England slipped into
further trouble at 36 for 4.
The visitors would have so
easily been bowled out on the opening day itself
but for the two good partnerships that involved
KP. First Pietersen got an 89-run stand with One
Day Captain Paul Collingwood (30) and then 61
for the 7th wicket with Stuart Broad, who is
unbeaten on 41. New Zealand had a perfect finish
to the day when the second new ball did the
trick in ending Kevin Pietersen's fighting knock
of 129 (from 208 balls with 12 fours and a six).
This was KP's 11th Test hundred. It was again
the young Tim Southee giving the breakthrough to
end a fantastic first day of his international
career with figures of 3 for 46. Spinner Jeetan
Patel chipped in with a couple of wickets that
of Collingwood and Ambrose. Earlier, New Zealand
were forced to go into the match without all
rounder Jacob Oram and Kyle Mills who are out
with injuries.
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