Kevin Pietersen hails strong England unit after 2-0 lead over Australia

Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen is so much delighted after visitors thump hosts Australia by four wickets and 40 balls to spare in the second Gillette One-day International of the five-match series on Friday (January 19) at Gabba in Brisbane.

For Australia, it was not enough, as the speedster Mitchell Starc bagged four wickets in his quota of 10 overs as debutant Jhye Richardson claimed two wickets after giving away 57 runs in 10 overs.

The 37-year-old Natal-born veteran batsman Pietersen took to the micro-blogging website Twitter to laud the efforts of his national team Three Lions after Brisbane victory.

“Lots of talk about teams winning away from home,” Pietersen tweeted on his official Twitter handle.

England was chasing down the target of 271 in 50 allotted overs after Australia post 270 for nine as Aaron Finch was the top scorer with 106 off 114 balls. He has smashed nine boundaries and a solitary six.

For England, Adil Rashid, Joe Root bagged two wickets each as Moeen Ali, Liam Plunkett and Chris Woakes managed a wicket each. However, the pace spearhead Mark Wood went wicketless.

England did not have a good start when they lose explosive opener Jason Roy at the score of just two on the fourth delivery of very first over of the English innings.

The fifties each from Bairstow (60 off 56), Hales (57 off 60) has made it easier for Joe Root, who remained unbeaten on 46 off 58 balls alongside bowling all-rounder Chris Woakes (39* off 27) to see the side home comfortably.

Interesting, for the second-wicket Jonny Bairstow and Alex Hales, forged a magnificent 117-run stand for the second wicket which somewhat provided a cushion to the middle-order batsmen.

After the miserable show in the Magellan Ashes series which saw the Three Lions were routed with the scoreline of 4-0 in Steven Smith-led favour.

“This England ODI team is doing it so well here in Australia. So so so very good!,” Pietersen remarked it his tweet.

It’s pertinent to mention that Eoin Morgan-led England has been a dominant force in the 50-over format since past one year and is concurrently placed at the fourth spot in the ICC ODI team rankings.

In 55 matches, England has collected 115 points alongside New Zealand which has played 57 games and India is placed at second place with 120 points and South Africa has maintained the top position with 120 points.

With England leading the series 2-0, the third ODI is slated for January 21 at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in Sydney.

Kevin Pietersen lauds team effort after comprehensive Gabba win:

Lots of talk about teams winning away from home…this England ODI team is doing it so well here in Australia.

So so so very good!

— Kevin Pietersen? (@KP24) January 19, 2018

Follow the Gillette ODI series here: Australia Vs England, 2018