Pietersen smacks England to Twenty20 win

Returning from injury Kevin Pietersen helps England finish tour on a high with victory over India in Twenty20 match.

England
undefined
Pietersen hammered 53 from 39 balls as England secured their first victory of Indian tour [GALLO/GETTY] 

Kevin Pietersen returned from injury to hit 53 on Saturday and give England their only tour victory with a six-wicket win against India in their one-off Twenty20 match.

India scored 120-9 after choosing to bat at Eden Gardens and England comfortably reached 121-4 in reply with eight deliveries left.

England lost the one-day series against India 5-0 but retained their top spot in the T20 version of the game.

England opener Craig Kieswetter was dismissed in the 4th over for 12 but England were never in real trouble from any of the Indian pacers.

Thumbs up

Pietersen, who missed the last ODI because of a thumb fracture, showed his importance to England with an aggressive display of skillful shots. He came in at 21-1 and departed in the 16th over with victory almost certain at 106-4.

The Surrey batsman was leg before wicket to Suresh Raina after a 39-ball innings which included three sixes and five fours.

Earlier, India started disastrously by slumping to 26-3 in 5.2 overs. Raina topscored for India with 39, including two sixes, before being caught by Jonathan Bairstow off Steven Finn.

Medium pacers Finn (3-22) and Tim Bresnan (2-19) took five wickets between them in eight tight overs for England.

With India struggling at 91-8, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (21) shared a 29-run partnership with Ravichandran Ashwin for the ninth wicket.

India brought in opener Robin Uthappa and middle order batsman Yusuf Pathan for the match.

Source: AP