Pietersen out to defy doubters as he comes to defence of Colly

Kevin Pietersen captains England for the first time at Lord's on Saturday insisting he is passionate about leading his adopted country and that his South African background should not be held against him.

Pietersen, who left his native Natal for England eight years ago, stands in for the suspended Paul Collingwood in the final NatWest one-day international against New Zealand and would love to become full-time captain eventually.

England batsman Kevin Pietersen stetches during a nets session ahead of the final one-day international against New Zealand

'Everyone can see how passionate I am and how much I want to win,' he said. 'I love playing for England. It's the best thing ever. It's an amazing honour and I'm thrilled to bits.'

Pietersen, who quit South Africa in protest at their quota system, was called 'unpatriotic' at the time by South African captain Graeme Smith and is still verbally abused by their fans.

'I get called names at every single game I play,' said Pietersen, 28 yesterday. 'Even at the Oval the other day when I was fielding on the boundary there were some South Africans in the crowd hammering me.

'It's just what I have to deal with. But I will never leave England, I can promise you that.

'Jess (his wife) is a home girl and I'm certain we will live here forever.'

Pietersen insisted that the whole England team should feel responsible for the four-match ban handed out to Collingwood for England's appalling over-rate.

'There was no way Colly should have gone down, it was all our fault,' he said. 'We should've helped him out. We have had a real good team meeting about how we can improve our overrates and there's lots of things we can do, like making sure we are in position to bowl as soon as a new batsman comes to the crease.'

Pietersen admitted to regrets about the controversial run-out of Grant Elliott during New Zealand's last-ball victory on Wednesday which gave the Kiwis a 2-1 lead in the series.

'What's done is done,' said Pietersen. 'In hindsight it wasn't the best decision we've made and it's one of those where if it happened again I'm sure we'd take the right option.'