IPL 5: Pietersen's innings one of the best: Jayawardene

New Delhi: Sri Lankan captain and Delhi Daredevils vice-captain Mahela Jayawardene rated Kevin Pietersen's maiden hundred in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as the best Twenty20 innings he has ever seen.
Pietersen smashed 103 off 64 balls as Delhi beat Deccan by five wickets for their fourth consecutive win in the tournament here on Thursday night at the Ferozeshah Kotla.


"KP (Pietersen) played exceptionally well. Last night's knock from KP is one of the best I have seen. It was a very good game yesterday," Mahela said on the sidelines of a promotional event here on Friday.
Jayawardene also jumped in defence of his skipper Virender Sehwag, who hasn't played a long innings so far in the tournament. "Sehwag is batting really well. He has given us very good starts. He is like that. You can't expect him to play this way every day," said Jayawardene.
The Sri Lankan captain was all praise for Sehwag's aggressive captaincy. "Viru (Sehwag) is a good leader, very aggressive. He expects us to play aggressively. We have had a good start to the tournament. It is a long tournament hence we need to keep the consistency going," he said.
However, Jayawardene brushed off former Sri Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga's take on the IPL as being his own opinion.
Ranatunga has blamed the Indian cricket board for "harming the game" through the IPL and said it would produce butchers instead of better Test players. Ranatunga, who led the Sri Lankan team to a historic World Cup triumph in 1996, blamed the BCCI for India's slide in Test arena.
"It is his own opinion. I don't think he (Ranatunga) has been a great fan of IPL. It is completely his opinion, there are other greats who like the version. There are many who believe that cricketers have improved their game," Jayawardene said.
Jayawardene cited the example of India's budding all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and Australian David Warner, for IPL being a great platform for youngsters to get into the national side. "For example, Ravindra Jadeja has launched his international cricketing career from IPL. He has improved and has gone a long way. A lot of youngsters have done the same way. It is up to the individuals," said Jayawardene.
"A batsmen like David Warner - how he has changed from the starting of T20 cricket. Now he is the opening batsmen for Australia as well. He is pretty aggressive as well. The first hundred he scored changed the whole match."