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Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen rolled back the clock in the fifth game of the ongoing Legends League Cricket 2022 between World Giants and Asia Lions. The explosive batter took his fans down memory lane with a blistering knock to help Giants beat Lions comprehensively by seven wickets.
Chasing 150, Giants lost opener Herschelle Gibbs early in the fourth over when the team’s total was just 28 runs. Then, the Giants came back thanks to a dominating partnership between Pietersen and Kevin O Brien (31 no) for the second wicket. The duo went on to add 100 runs in just 45 deliveries to take the game away from the opposition.
Pietersen didn’t allow the Lions to capitalise after the early setback, punishing all the bowlers to keep the momentum with the Giants. The right-handed batter smashed a blistering knock of 86 runs off just 38 deliveries with the help of 16 boundaries, including seven humungous sixes. Although Muttiah Muralitharan dismissed Pietersen in the 11th over, but it was too late for the Lions as Giants successfully chased down the target within 13 overs.
Earlier, Lions posted 149/7 in their allotted 20 overs, with Asghar Afghan (41 off 26) being the top-scorer for his side. Romesh Kaluwitharana (26 retd hurt) and Upul Tharanga (22) chipped in with some contributions to help Lions reach near the 150-run mark.
For the Giants, Ryan Sidebottom (2/38) and Morne Morkel (2/24) were the pick of the bowlers. Similarly, Brett Lee (1/27) and Monty Panesar (1/22) bagged one wicket apiece.
Here is how Twitter reacted:
Wow 😍 he can still do this at this age . How good ! The flair https://t.co/WXfEpV9LBc
— Shreevats goswami (@shreevats1) January 27, 2022
https://twitter.com/KP24/status/1486547483413131272
Kevin Pietersen, the Howzat Legend Of The Match.
86 runs from 38 balls.
9 Fours! 7 Sixes!
His innings destroyed the lions.What a brilliant performance!
He rained powerful sixes, fours, and pure entertainment tonight.@KP24#GameOfGOATs #Howzat #LegendsLeagueCricket #LLCT20 pic.twitter.com/QzVyXnPgMs— Legends League Cricket (@llct20) January 26, 2022
Such a treat watching @KP24 smack the bowling. All clean hits! 🔥
— Nikhil 🏏 (@CricCrazyNIKS) January 26, 2022
Looks like Kevin Pietersen doesn’t retire.He can play better cricket than some so called power hitter.Scored 30 runs from Sanath Jayasuriya's over.What a power hitting.#LLCT20 #Pietersen
— Sobuj 🇧🇩 (@aksobuj_) January 26, 2022
Watching Kevin Pietersen bat even years after he last played his last competitive cricket game is such a treat. Those 9 fours and 7 sixes have single-handedly been sufficient to defeat the Lions side that anyway didn’t post a daunting score. #LLCT20 #LegendsLeagueCricket
— Dwaipayan Mukherjee 🎙️⚽️🏏🎾 (@Dwai_Doyen) January 26, 2022
@KP24 hasn't lost a touch… Incredible batting…#ALvsWG#LLCT20 @llct20
— Taneshan_23 (@Taneshan_23) January 26, 2022
https://twitter.com/Abu_Shalwar/status/1486389397591400453