Former England swashbuckling batter Kevin Pietersen slammed the hosts after their mundane performance against Australia on the opening day of the ongoing second Ashes Test match at Lord’s on Wednesday. After winning the toss, England captain Ben Stokes decided to field first but the hosts bowlers were not up to the mark.
Australia ended the opening day in a commanding position at 339-5 with Steve Smith remaining unbeaten on 85. Pietersen slammed the England bowlers for their lack of intent and felt the fast bowlers were not right on the money.
In fact, England went with a four-man pace attack as they added Josh Tongue in place of injured Moeen Ali. While Tongue consistently bowled over 85 mph, the likes of James Anderson, Ollie Robinson and Stuart Broad hovered around 80 mph and Pietersen reckons it was not good enough from them.
Josh Tongue bowled both of Australia’s openers at either side of lunch whereas Joe Root also took two wickets towards the end of day’s play. After tea, Ollie Robinson got the wicket of well-settled Marnus Labuschagne.
The conditions were perfect for swing bowling as it was overcast in the first two sessions and the pitch also had a tinge of grass but England bowlers failed to hit the right areas as Australia went to tea at 180-2.
“England have been shambolic. Absolutely shambolic,” Kevin Pietersen told Sky Sports at the tea interval.
“You have overhead conditions, you have a wicket that suits your bowlers and you’ve got bowlers running in at 78, 79, 80mph”.
‘It’s one thing swanning around and saying “this is a wonderful team to play in, we’re creating the best environment”.
‘But this isn’t Ashes cricket. I played Ashes cricket. I played 30 Tests against Australia.’
Pietersen also slammed England for their lack of intent on the opening day of the Test match. The former batter also felt England was being too friendly with the Australians, which shouldn’t be the case in the Ashes.
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