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Pietersen expects England batsmen to deliver

07/08/2008

Kevin Pietersen has said he has absolute faith in England's batsmen ahead of today's final Test against South Africa.

The new England captain and coach Peter Moores have selected five specialist bowlers for the Oval Test, opting to replace Michael Vaughan and injured Ryan Sidebottom with Steve Harmison and Stuart Broad.

The move puts extra pressure on England's batsmen, but Pietersen said he was confident the team would benefit from the "positive... aggressive" selection.

"This is Peter Moores' and my team," said Pietersen. "We've definitely come together and we had a good chat and it's a team we've both decided on."

Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook will open for the hosts, followed by Ian Bell at three, Paul Collingwood at four and Pietersen and Flintoff and five and six respectively.

Wicket-keeper Tim Ambrose meanwhile will bat at number seven.

"I've always said the batters need to score the runs and then we're going to have Freddie [Flintoff] at number six," Pietersen continued.

"I like Fred at number six. It's a positive move with Timmy at number seven and then Broad at number eight - it's not a bad batting line-up when you look at it like that."

England are playing for pride alone in today's Test, with the tourists having already earned an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series.