England started day five of the fourth test at the Oval requiring 197 runs to win after bowling out of South Africa for 318. Things started well with Andrew Strauss and Alistair Cook adding 123 before the wicket of Cook fell. Then there was a bit of a wobble and the England faithful were starting to fear and typical domino effect collapse as Strauss and Ian Bell’s wickets fell still needing 50 runs to win. Then newly appointed captain Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood came out to the the crease and Pietersen only faced 27 balls before departing for just 13 runs. Collingwood did better facing 50 balls and knocked up 25 not out, but it was England favourite ‘Freddy’ Flintoff that scored the runs required to pass the total set by South Africa with a timed shot straight past bowler Paul Harris to find the boundary rope. So it was a winning start to Pietersen’s tenure as captain but this doesn’t mean anything, he’ll need to do it consistently to be hailed as a good choice of captain. I am still not convinced by Pietersen’s credentials to be chosen as captain but I would love to eat my words if he can prove me wrong. Next he has to face a five match one day series with SA.
