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Pietersen relieved at getting first ODI ton in England

15/06/2008

Kevin Pietersen admits he is relieved to get his first one-day international ton in England after the 114-run win over New Zealand at the Riverside.

The 27-year-old whacked an unbeaten 110 off 112 balls, his first ODI century for over a year.

While Pietersen has five ODI centuries on foreign soil, this was his first in England since making his debut in November 2004.

Pietersen said he is determined to score more centuries this summer at number three.

"I looked at my stats with the coach the other day and I average 30 in England with the bat but 60 abroad, so it's about time I got a score here," Pietersen said.

"I've batted at four, five and six, but I suggested moving up to three to the coach a couple of months back and now it's a case of me working hard at it and making it work."

Pietersen's innings included two outrageous reverse-sweep sixes off Scott Styris.

Asked whether he thought this shot should be banned as he is effectively a right-handed batsman playing left-handed, Pietersen responded: "I don't agree at all.

"To be honest, if you're playing right-handed you shouldn't even have the ability to hit left-handers for six like I do, so no, it's not a problem."

Meanwhile, Kiwis skipper Daniel Vettori admitted his bowlers let him down.

"When you put a team in, you want to restrict them to a score of around 250," Vettori said.

"You have to bowl well, and unfortunately we didn't today.

"We never really got on top - that Pietersen-Collingwood partnership took the game away from us."

England have four more ODI's left against the Black Caps, before a more severe test against Pietersen's homeland of South Africa which starts on July 10th.