Published May 18, 2010
Kevin Pieterson (MBE), 30, may have been born South African but his loyalty now lies with England. There are “Three Lions” on the England shirt and in Pieterson’s case there are three more on his upper arm, which define his dedication to his new allegiance. Just like these fierce predators of the bush, Pieterson too reigns superior in his cricket domain.
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In recent years his charismatic hunger for success has driven him to become England's premier batsmen and the icon his birth country may look back one day and wish that they had not allowed him to depart. Having departed due to his displeasure with quota system’s in South Africa, Pieterson under his mothers eligibility, served a qualifying period of four years before being called up to make his One Day International (ODI) debut against Zimbabwe in 2004. Since his inception, the tall right hand batsman became the fastest batsman to reach both 1,000 and 2,000 runs in ODI’s and was the quickest in terms of time to 5,000 Test runs.
A shameless demeanor and devastating touch has made him arguably the world’s most destructive cricketer, exploiting most bowling attacks around the world. Pieterson is known for his rapid scoring ability as demonstrated once again during the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies. Pieterson had returned from injury for the tournament, which started on April 30 and was quickly back to his prolific best, earning the status, “the King of the Carribean”. In the group stages he scored 33 runs as England eased past the group matches against West Indies and Ireland, progressing into the Super 8’s. In the Super 8’s Pieterson guided England to a 6 wicket against Pakistan. He was unbeaten on 73 from 52 balls.
In the following Super 8’s match against birth country, South Africa, Pietersen scored an aggressive 53 runs from 33 balls, contributing to a 94 run partnership with Craig Kieswetter and a 39 run victory for England. Following the match Pieterson dashed across the Atlantic to attend the birth of his son, Dylan Pieterson. He did however return in time to smash an unbeaten 42 off 26 balls, guiding England passed Sri Lanka in the semi-finals and into their first ICC tournament final since the 2004 ICC Champions Trophy.
In only three weeks, Pieterson had inspired a revolution in the England camp. His dynamic batting style had lead to the other players in the team to become more assertive at the crease. His rampant stature and attacking freedom had transcended into the other 10 players on the field. In the final against old foes Australia, he scored 47 runs from 31 balls. His knock was vital as England thrashed Australia by seven wickets, earning England a maiden ICC title in Barbados on May 16.
In the tournament in the Caribbean, Pieterson batted six innings, scoring a total of 248 runs at an average of 62. His strike rate of 137.77 had revived a once depleted looking batting line-up into world champions. As a result, Kevin Pieterson was named the player of the 2010 ICC World Twenty 20 and had changed the way cricket was viewed in England.
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