My hard work has paid off, says a happy Pietersen

LONDON - Kevin Pietersen, who played a crucial role in England’s World Twenty20 triumph, said it was his hard work to get back to form that paid off during the championship.

Pietersen scored 248 runs in the competition and was named the man of the tournament. The hard-hitting batsman also played an important part in the final against Australia, scoring 47 off 31 balls.

“I spent hours and hours in the nets in Bangalore (during the IPL) and spent an hour-and-half at Nagpur in a game where I missed out,” Pietersen recalled.

“I just worked as hard as I could, because I was really disappointed in my winter and in the last 12 months,” Pietersen was quoted as saying in The Daily Telegraph.

Pietersen insists it is the impact he can have on team’s success which motivates him.

“To contribute to this, there’s no greater feeling. To do what we have done here in the past two weeks - priceless.”

Pietersen said he was impressed with wicketkeeper-batsman Craig Kieswetter, who has been England’s find of the tournament. Opening the batting with Michael Lumb, Kieswetter gave good start to England. He was the top scorer with 63 runs in the final.

“I have been really impressed with Kiesy since he has come in. I had not seen him play; I did not know what he did.”

“I knew he hit the ball hard. But on Monday when I was at home (for the birth of his son in London), I watched the game for an hour or so and I saw how still he keeps his head and how he plays - and I was really, really impressed.”

“He is come into the team; all the lads have taken to him, and he’s done a fantastic job. What a great start he has got to his career, coming into the team and winning a World Cup.”

Twenty-two-year-old Kieswetter can scarcely believe what has happened himself.

“It’s been a bit of a roller-coaster ride for the past couple of months, so to be sat here having won a ‘World Cup’ is obviously a dream come true,” he said.