Kevin Pietersen broke new ground on Saturday with a maiden Test double hundred to help put England in sight of an innings victory and a 1-0 series lead against West Indies at Headingley.
His effort was impressively backed up Ryan Sidebottom. Playing only his second Test, six years after a wicketless debut, the left-arm quick took six wickets in a day with West Indies, at stumps on the second day, needing 402 to make England bat again.
Pietersen's 226 was the centerpiece of England's 570-for-seven declared. Sidebottom then took four-for-42 as West Indies were bowled out for 146.
England captain Michael Vaughan, who had earlier marked his return to Test cricket after an injury-induced absence of 18 months with 103, had no hesitation in enforcing the follow-on.
Sidebottom then struck twice more to leave West Indies 22 for two in their second innings at stumps.
Pietersen's was the highest individual Test innings by an England cricketer since Graham Gooch's 333 against India at Lord's 17 years ago.
And it also meant the 26-year-old batsman had at last got past his previous Test best of 158 — a score he'd made three times.
"I was very happy to get past it," said Pietersen, four of whose eight Test hundreds, from just 25 matches, are in excess of 150. "It's something I've been criticized for, not getting big scores. But it was there for me to build an innings. That's what I concentrated on."
Pietersen had a lucky break early in his innings when he was stumped off a no-ball on 20.
But he insisted he hadn't dwelt on his reprieve.
"I'm not scared of getting out, I don't fear failure," he said.
? ICC President dies
AFP, LEEDS, England
International Cricket Council (ICC) president Percy Sonn has died aged 57 the governing body announced in a statement from its Dubai headquarters yesterday.
Sonn had spent several days in a Cape Town hospital following complications after undergoing a minor colon operation.
He was the first African to head up the ICC but his death leaves the organization without an obvious successor after England's David Morgan and India's Sharad Pawar tied in a recent vote to replace him.
ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said: "Percy's mantra was that the game should be inclusive not exclusive; he relished modern cricket's diversity"
Sonn's predecessor as ICC president, Ehsan Mani said: "As a cricket administrator and a man, Percy Sonn was a giant."
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB