Kevin Pietersen produced a stunning performance with the bat and in the field as Melbourne Stars won their derby clash with Melbourne Renegades by 23 runs to claim their first victory of the season.
Pietersen has revealed that this year’s BBL season will likely be his last as he gets set to call time on his career.
But he provided a sparkling reminder of his quality on Friday at the Etihad Stadium as the Stars avenged the loss to their city rivals at the MCG six days ago.
The former England international underpinned the Stars’ innings by hitting 74 off 46 balls and then produced a memorable catch as the Renegades fell well short of their target of 168.
A PEARLER FROM PIETERSEN
A typically big-hitting performance from Pietersen saw him clear the rope five times, overshadowing the man known as ‘The Big Show’, though Glenn Maxwell’s unbeaten 31 off 16 balls certainly proved a useful contribution.
Yet Pietersen saved his best for the field, diving sharply to his right to take a magnificent two-handed catch to remove Tom Cooper for a run-a-ball 19.
{{/usCountry}}Yet Pietersen saved his best for the field, diving sharply to his right to take a magnificent two-handed catch to remove Tom Cooper for a run-a-ball 19.
{{/usCountry}}That left the Renegades on 56-4, a position from which they would not recover despite the best efforts of their middle order.
BRAVO BRILLIANCE UNREWARDED
Despite Pietersen’s excellent innings, there should be little debate that the shot of the day belonged to Dwayne Bravo.
The West Indies all-rounder incredibly managed to launch a six into the second tier of the Etihad over cover, but that moment of magic was very much in vain.
Bravo fell to Evan Gulbis’ first ball and, though Mohammad Nabi (23) and Jack Wildermuth (23) briefly kept hopes alive, wickets fell all too frequently for the Renegades to stay in contention as they suffered a third defeat of the campaign.