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Skipper Pietersen praises England's lower-order resistance

08/08/2008

Centurion Kevin Pietersen hailed his tail-enders who rescued England in the final Test against South Africa at the Oval.

Pietersen hit 100 on his debut as skipper as England posted 316 in their first innings.

After the skipper was dismissed, that sparked a collapse with England going from 219-3 to 263-8.

Steve Harmison and James Anderson made a vital partnership of 53, with Harmison making a career-high 49 not out.

Pietersen praised the contribution of his tailenders for giving the home side a lead of over 100 runs.

"The way Steve and James batted to get us past 300 was brilliant. For him (Harmison) to get 49 - I wanted more for Steve to get 50 than me to get 100," Pietersen told Sky Sports.

Pietersen made his 13th Test ton before being edging a delivery from Makhaya Ntini to Kallis at second slip.

The 28-year-old said he was disappointed at getting out two balls after making a ton.

"I wasn't happy with myself for getting out then but the team situation I'm very happy with," Pietersen added.

"Things can only get worse at the moment. We're riding this wave and hopefully we can do more good stuff tomorrow. We're going to have to do some hard yards."

South Africa closed on 37-1 after facing nine testing overs, still trailing England by 85 runs.