Kevin Pietersen primed for another Test match ton at Adelaide

After an uncomfortable five days under the battery of Mitchell Johnson’s bouncers at the Gabba, England will arrive at Adelaide feeling far more restful about the prospect of taking guard in the second Test.

Renowned for carrying less bite than the pitch of its preceding Test, the Adelaide Oval is a batting-friendly venue where mammoth scores are the norm and is, for one Englishman, a particularly happy hunting ground.

Kevin Pietersen has completed three innings there during his career and passed 150 in two of them, leaving him with a rather wholesome average of 129.00 at the ground.

If murmurs from the England camp and press are to be believed then it’s likely Joe Root will bat at number three which, given his inexperience at the position, could bring Pietersen to the crease quite early.

Therefore, there’s no better time to back the Surrey man to record another triple figure score in England’s first innings at temptingly long odds of 4/1.
Pietersen’s Test record shows that he’s a far more effective run maker in England’s first innings, scoring 18 of his 23 hundreds in the side’s first dig and averaging 54.68 in those knocks, compared to a rather measly 38.38 in his second attempts.

The South-African born batsman also has a better record in the second Test matches of a series. He’s racked up nine hundreds in those games, more than at any other stage of a series, and has a higher average in second Test’s at 68.83.

So the stars seem to be aligning for yet another Pietersen ton, and with Ladbrokes giving him a two run headstart over the rest of the field in the batsman 1st innings handicap market, the 7/1 that he’s the highest scorer in the match looks terrific value when his previous scores of 158 and 227 at Adelaide are considered.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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