PSYCHOLOGY OF CRICKET- KEVIN VERSUS MURALI

 

Image Credit- Wisden

Venue- Edgbaston Cricket Ground, Birmingham [May 2006].

 

In the year 2006, Sri Lanka toured England to play a test series comprising of 3 test matches. The first test at Lords ended in a draw and the teams now moved to Birmingham for the second test. Mahela Jayawardene, the captain of Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first.

However soon it appeared to be a wrong decision as England used a swinging wicket to reduce them to 82/8 before Chaminda Vaas and Lasith Malinga put up a half-century partnership and the visitors were eventually bowled out for 141 runs. Liam Plunkett was the leading wicket taker for the hosts. In response England started very well. At the conclusion of the first day, they had almost eliminated the deficit when play was called off. The English scorecard read 138/3. However, Muttiah Muralitharan kept troubling the English batsmen and it appeared that they won't be able to take a big lead.

But that is when we witnessed one of the greatest cricketing duels. Kevin and Murali went head-to-head. There were balls which troubled Kev. There were deliveries which made him feel uncomfortable. However, the way he played Murali was something unbelievable. Afterall no one has ever played a switch hit to the great Muttiah Muralitharan.

Pietersen scored 142 of 157 deliveries. His innings consisted of 20 boundaries and 3 sixes. In the words of Mark Nicholas, "it was a rare privilege to be here and watch Kevin Pietersen bat". Due to the heroics of Pietersen England managed to score 295 in their first innings. However, it will be wrong to say that this match completely belonged to Kevin. Afterall Muttiah Muralitharan picked up 10 wickets in the game and kept Lankans in the fight. 

However, at the end of the day the hosts won the match by 6 wickets and took a 1-0 lead in the series. Kevin Pietersen was awarded the man of the match for his blistering knock. 

To watch Kevin and Murali's face off, click here.

To watch Kevin Pietersen's knock, click here.

To watch Muttiah Muralitharan's spell, click here.