Last Updated on 4 years by Charbel Coorey
Cricket News: Kevin Pietersen recalls memorable Ashes century at The Oval | Kevin Pietersen gets nostalgic about his playing days in Oval
Kevin Pietersen was one of the most captivating cricketers in world cricket and easily one of England’s best batsmen ever. Though he had a career filled with controversy, Pietersen is the 3rd highest run-getter across formats for England with 13,779 runs in 275 games.
Pietersen has fond memories of the Iconic Oval Stadium in London for many reasons. The Betway ambassador goes down the memory to reminisce about some of them in a short video. KP, who has played county cricket for Surrey, The Oval happens to be his home ground.
Pietersen spoke about how he felt when he first played an Ashes game here at The Oval in the historic 2005 series. Calling the atmosphere at the venue surreal whenever he walked through the fans, KP remembered how he felt a little tense when he went into bat the first time in England colors.
Kevin Pietersen recalls classic 158 at The Oval in 2005, and other moments
He made 158 in the 2nd innings of the Test, which helped England secure a draw and reclaim the Ashes after 18 long years. England took out the series 2-1, and Pietersen was the leading run-getter in his debut series.
This was just one of the many centuries that he has made on this ground.
He then remembered the time when he took the wicket of the former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni when India toured England in 2007. In the third Test, Dhoni was in great hitting form and sent a couple of maximums over the fence off Kevin Pietersen’s bowling. But the latter bowling his off-spinners got the better of the Indian batsman, and Dhoni became one of his 10 Test wickets.
Four years later, India under Dhoni toured England as the no.1 Test side in the world. England won the first three Tests quite comfortably and the series headed to its final Test at The Oval. Once again, England dominated the match with Kevin Pietersen scoring 175 runs at this venue and ending the 4-match series as the leading run-getter, scoring 533 runs. This helped England take the winning Test mace from India, and Pietersen recounted the celebrations after that.
Overall, he has made four centuries at The Oval in the eight Test matches he played throughout his career, and it accounted for 897 of his 8,181 career Test runs.
KP says all these feel unreal and added that it felt special to be back here, this time as a broadcaster for England’s Test series against India, which is evenly poised at 1-1.
