The Oval in Kennington, London, which is among the historic cricket grounds in the world, has the credit of hosting the first ever test match, way back in 1880.
Called the Kia Oval for sponsorship obligations, The Oval has been home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club and for Kevin Pietersen as well for a period between 2010 and 2017.
Easily among the most talented batsmen to have represented England, Kevin Pietersen has recently shared his experience of playing at The Oval during an interview with cricket betting leader Betway. OyeCricket.com brings you the video in which the 41-year-old recounts his memories and association with this great cricket ground.
For the record, Kevin Pietersen or KP as he is fondly called had played 104 tests between 2005 and 2014 in which he scored 8,181 runs at a highly impressive average of 47.28. Despite starting his international career late at an age of 25, and playing for just about nine years, Pietersen hit 23 centuries and 35 fifties in test matches. Pietersen also has nine centuries and 25 fifties in ODIs.
The reason for Kevin Pietersen’s late start to international cricket was because he is a South African who made his first class debut in the African country in 1997. In 2000, he moved to England and had to wait for quite some time before he could qualify to play for the country.
Kevin Pietersen made his test debut during the Ashes Series in 2005, which was won 2-1 by England. The tall right-handed middle-order batsman made an immediate impact by becoming the highest run-getter in the five-match test series by smashing 473 runs.
The 6ft 4in tall Pietersen brought a breath of fresh air to the team with his aggressive batting style that wasn’t too common with the otherwise orthodox England batsmen. It was perhaps the first time that an English batsman had the guts to take on Shane Warne to the cleaners. Using his height to advantage, Kevin Pietersen slog swept Warney out of the ground on several occasions, while treating the other bowlers with equal disdain.
In the fifth and final Test at The Oval, Pietersen confirmed that he would go on to become one of the greatest batsmen when he smacked 158 from just 187 balls in the first innings to ensure that England got a healthy total. The match ended in a draw due to bad weather, which was a good result for the hosts as it denied Australia the opportunity to square the series.