Pietersen happy to save England

Pietersen delighted as his fifty takes dodgy England home in the warm-up match against Scotland

Pietersen happy to save England

Pietersen delighted as his fifty takes dodgy England home in the warm-up match against Scotland

England batsman Kevin Pietersen was relieved to prove his fitness with a stylish unbeaten 53 as England defeated Scotland in the Twenty20 warm-up match yesterday.

Kevin Pietersen saved England's blushes with a match-winning 53 in the warm-up tie against Scotland yesterday. pIC/AFP

Pietersen missed the one-day series against West Indies with Achilles trouble but said: "I feel really good.

"I was diving in the field and haven't done that for years. Now I need to keep rehabilitating and keep myself right."

He shared 49 with Eoin Morgan of whom he said: "What impressed me was how calm he was out there. It bodes well."

England's performance came in for criticism but skipper Paul Collingwood said: "I was delighted with it, the way the boys stuck to the task.

"It would have been nice to blaze it all over the place but I thought they used their heads and got us over the line which is the thing you need to do against these sides.

"It's hard playing the minnows because they've got nothing to lose."

Looking ahead to Wednesday's final warm-up against the West Indies and Friday's opening ICC World Twenty20 match against the Netherlands he said: "There are a couple of areas we need to look at without a doubt."

Spinner Adil Rashid conceded 31 runs from his three overs and Collingwood said: "He'll be a little disappointed with the boundaries he went for but he'll learn from that and I'm sure he'll bounce back from that."

Scotland captain Gavin Hamilton praised his team's determination and told BBC Sport: "We put up a fantastic fight but we still have a lot to improve.

"Not only did we compete against a very good England side but we've come out of it thinking we've got a lot left in the tank.

In the build-up to the tournament, Scotland bowler John Blain walked out of the squad following a furious row with Hamilton.

"John was only with us for one afternoon, he's not been with us for the full season," the captain explained. "It happened, it was one of those things, the momentum of the side is exactly where we want to be the team ethos is absolutely outstanding."

Dimitri Mascarenhas took the new ball for England, while Stuart Broad conceded only two runs in a fine final over from around the wicket.

"They took us by surprise opening with Dimi when we were prepared to come hard at the quicker bowlers it took us a couple of overs to get into any momentum, but the middle order got us into a really good position," Hamilton said.

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