South Africans blown away by Pietersen magical England show

Having already won his first Test in charge and coaxed Steve Harmison out of one- day retirement, he excelled with bat, ball and bowling changes in a storming start to the NatWest Series .

South Africa went to Headingley as overwhelming favourites for this five-match campaign, but they were simply blown away by the force of one man’s irrepressible spirit.

England captain Kevin Pietersen led his side to a 20 run victory over South Africa in the first match of the NatWest Series against South Africa

Pietersen’s body language spoke of a skipper with no intention of bending the knee in front of supposedly superior opponents.

He was relentless and manically committed while inspiring a tense 20-run win.

First came the familiar part, with KP scoring a belligerent 90 not out and sharing a fourth-wicket stand of 158 with Andrew Flintoff to propel England to a challenging total of 275 for four.

Then he pulled a few more rabbits from his hat.

He brought Steve Harmison on to bowl the eighth over of South Africa’s innings and Graeme Smith was immediately caught behind for 21.

That established a remarkable pattern.

Samit Patel also struck in his first over, as did Pietersen himself when AB de Villiers chipped to Ian Bell at short midwicket.

England’s captain intervened again soon afterwards — seizing Bell’s sharp throw to run out Jacques Kallis on 51.

As if that wasn’t enough, Pietersen then had Mark Boucher stumped on 16 before showing immaculate timing again by bringing Harmison back to remove JP Duminy in the first over of his second spell.

When Johan Botha holed out at deep square leg off Stuart Broad, the writing was on the wall for South Africa and they were eventually dismissed for 255.

England’s new-look opening pair of Ian Bell and recalled wicketkeeper Matt Prior had laid firm foundations with a partnership of 78, but rarely left second gear.

Prior edged the first ball he faced between first and second slip, and was handed another ‘life’ on 23 when Vernon Philander somehow spilled a miscued drive at mid-off.

England fast-bowler Steve Harmison grabbed two wickets on his return to the one-day arena

Bell dug in without ever hitting his stride and was eventually out for 35 from 69 balls in an innings devoid of a single boundary.

Prior followed soon afterwards.

Having just plundered the first six of the match off Kallis, he carved loosely to backward point.

Owais Shah was out for 12 to bring together Pietersen and Flintoff, who crept along with the handbrake on.

No boundaries were scored for 98 deliveries and England’s two biggest hitters struck just two fours between them in the first 50 runs of their stand.

It was an exercise in uncharacteristic restraint and it paid off, as the dam burst in the final 10 overs of the innings.

Both batsmen began to walk around the crease and strike the ball over the top, bringing the Headingley crowd to life.

Their partnership surged into three figures, then past 150 with indecent haste as the tourists’ fielding became ragged in the midst of the onslaught.

Flintoff posted his first half century in 22 ODIs before falling for 78 from 70 balls — bowled by Steyn as he tried to engineer another boundary.

Pietersen strode off unbeaten and unbowed, and that was how he stayed for the rest of the match.

Pietersen, voted man of the match, said: ‘The team were brilliant. Everybody performed and if that continues we will become difficult to beat.

'We set a foundation, and now Tuesday at Trent Bridge will be huge for us to prove we can keep progressing.

‘I asked a lot of the lads and they did a good job. The pace of our innings was just right for the situation.

'Steve Harmison came back into the team and everything we asked of him he delivered.’

Earlier, South Africa had announced that they would not participate in next month’s Champions Trophy in Pakistan — increasing the chances of a switch to Sri Lanka.

Preparations for the one-day event are in disarray due to widespread security fears.

ICC assurances about player safety have failed to placate Cricket South Africa, whose president, Norman Arendse, said: ‘The board resolved not to send our team to Pakistan.

'We would urge the ICC to reschedule the tournament as soon as possible.’

England and New Zealand are also set against going to Pakistan, but India are supporting their neighbours.

The ICC are due to make a ruling on Sunday.

The Australian players’ union have already said they would advise their team not to travel.