Pietersen slams 'ridiculous' criticism

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The Hampshire batsman won the man-of-the-match award at Chester-le-Street for hitting a brilliant unbeaten 110 off 112 balls - which included two reverse shots for six off Scott Styris - but those strokes prompted criticism from former England captain Michael Atherton, who claimed they were unfair on bowlers who have to declare which hand they are going to bowl with.

It brought an indignant response from Pietersen, who said: "It's ridiculous, it's absolutely stupid. People should be saying it's the new way to go, not criticising everything that happens on a daily basis."

He added: "There's new things happening to cricket at the moment and people are criticising all the time. There should just be positives about all the stuff that's happening."