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Kevin Pietersen was making circumspect progress by his standards as England moved slowly but surely towards an impregnable position in the first Test at Lord's yesterday.

Then, foolishly, the West Indies made him angry.

The biggest surprise about four English batsmen making centuries in the first innings here was that Pietersen was not one of them. But after a cautious opening as England built upon their first innings lead of 116, the world's third best Test batsman put that right.

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Strauss hits out before edging Collymore to Morton in the slips for 24

The catalyst for Pietersen's seventh Test hundred, and second at Lord's, was an elongated exchange of views with Chris Gayle that fluctuated from good-hearted banter to serious words and actions.

The loser, even though he had the last word by dismissing Pietersen for 109 in a flurry of late wickets before England set West Indies 401 to win, was conclusively Gayle.

"You're making me cross," said Pietersen not once but three times in the direction of the usually phlegmatic Gayle, as West Indies attempted to unsettle the always animated batsman.

Sport hurts: Gayle is felled by a Harmison delivery which hits him in the box

At that stage, Pietersen had made 21 from 47 balls, but he was soon putting his foot on the accelerator, as well as his shoulder on Gayle's chest and his bat, with a gentle prod, on the Jamaican's back.

In truth, there was nothing that crossed the line, but it was enough to get Pietersen's juices flowing and his full front-foot repertoire was unfurled in a stand of 102 with Paul Collingwood during which Pietersen went from 50 to three figures in 39 balls.

Pietersen said afterwards: "Things like what happened with Chris Gayle get me concentrating and get me going. It's a nice way to relax and get tuned up. Actually, me and Chris are good friends."

It was the change of pace that England needed to get in position to push for the victory today that everyone assumed would be a formality before the start of the series.

That their success is no formality is due to an unexpected display of doggedness from the tourists and an uncertain weather forecast today.

When Pietersen is in full flow there are few who can match him. He would have cursed himself for not cashing in during the first innings but after Andrew Strauss and Owais Shah had again fallen cheaply in reply to West Indies' 437 all out, Pietersen had the opportunity to make his own mark on the first Test.

Driving force: Kevin Pietersen lets loose against the West Indies

At times when he was at the crease with Alastair Cook, the West Indies were doing a decent job of keeping a lid on England's ambitions.

Corey Collymore shook off his first-innings lethargy to take the first three wickets. Strauss would have been aware that this Lord's pitch has pretty much flattened out and did not want the tourists chasing fewer than 400, especially as Matthew Hoggard is unlikely to bowl with a thigh muscle injury.

But his batsmen needed to give England's remaining three fit bowlers at least a day to try to take 10 wickets and Strauss was able to finally declare and leave West Indies with two overs of batting last night only after Pietersen had been galvanised into action by Gayle.

When Gayle finally had Pietersen lbw reverse slogging, after Cook had fallen 35 short of two centuries in the Test, England's batting job was effectively done. They would have been annoyed to lose five wickets for 43 runs in reaching their target, but Gayle gained enough turn in taking three of those to offer Monty Panesar encouragement for today.

West Indies' Mr Cool attempted to bury the hatchet by offering Pietersen a high five after dismissing him, but his gesture was met by only the briefest of handshakes. The England team then left Gayle flat on his back after Steve Harmison had struck him a nasty blow in the box when the left-hander and Daren Ganga were given a brief examination before the close.

Gamesmanship: Kevin Pietersen and Chris Gayle had a series of exchanges during the day's play

West Indies were able to reach the sanctuary of the dressing room with their innings, if not Gayle's dignity, fully intact. But it had given Pietersen the opportunity for another mischievous comment. "That made me giggle and I'll be ringing Chris as soon as I get out of here to discuss how he should have played that ball!"

Panesar can clearly expect a lot of bowling today. It seems incredible now that England were close to leaving their spinner out in the damp of Thursday morning, but he emphasised that such a policy in future must always be foolhardy in the extreme by thriving where few spinners have before, at Lord's in May.

Final figures of six for 129, with five lbws upheld by the spinner's friend Asad Rauf, tell the story of a man who is improving with every match.

Harmison bowled with more control and hostility yesterday morning — even though he was bemused at one point to see Daren Powell take two steps down the wicket before crashing him through the covers — than he had done during a wayward Saturday. But he began the West Indies second innings with two consecutive wides, showing again that he appears not to have fully recovered from the horrors of the winter.

If England are to win today it will surely be down to Monty to lead them home.

 

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