Victory is sweeter with the wait. In sports, victory means life, beyond a generation. It’s hard to explain this to a non-sport fan. It’s hard to tell you how emotions run, and tears take over when a team/a player you love and see for years win after many years. Ineffable, the emotions are.

No, I’m not talking about the 2019 World Cup. Of course, this means more, but emotionally it might come to close second to what the team witnessed in 2005.

Sixteen years and a few more days added to it. The time they had to wait until they could hold the Ashes trophy. Every single emotion. Every single moment. It was all worth it. Of course, the series had its own set of dramas, revenge and triumphs. Everything came down to the final Test at the Oval.

England had everything going. They needed a draw there, nothing more. It was supposed to be easy, They were supposed to go through with ease. They literally caught Australia’s throat and were moments away from slaying them, but hey, 16 freaking years, remember? They had a great history of letting it go. A history of walking a step closer and falling two steps.

Welcome to Oval. England began well and Pietersen did little to no work. He was bowled by Shane Warne. He was one of his six victims. Pietersen isn’t the most experienced out there. He was young and had a shit load of controversies already. It was his debut series and he didn’t totally live up to his potential or something that everyone boosted. Of course, he had potential. He proved it later on but in 2005, he was a newcomer. He had a long way to go. Now, looking at his performances, this new generation would have all those debates on Twitter, he would have been trending for the whole Ashes month. People would have taken sides. There would have been stat heads digging into his numbers. Some digging for fun, some, to make fun.

Coming back to the Test, It was the final day. The cloud was peeking as Fez from ‘That 70’s Show’ would go, Australians said GOOD DAY.
Just six runs separated both the sides and England came in next. The draw should be on the cards but England loves to collapse, don’t they?

Shane Warne went through the top order once again and helped McGrath to dismiss Bell. And… There you go.

England was leading by just 133 and half the side was inside already at the end of the second session.
England was almost heading to another Ashes defeat. Collingwood, the last recognised batter in the side joined Pietersen.

Now, Pietersen had to play his natural game. He had to save this Test match. He had to do whatever he can to prove himself. Awkward is the right word to explain how Pietersen while batting. It looked like it wasn’t his day. In a whisker, everything changed. He suddenly looked immortal. He was chasing every single delivery, smashing them. Almost everyone at the dressing room was on their feet, nervous yet enjoying. I mean, they had to. Pietersen was showing them his approach to the pressure and how he heals himself.

His way of healing was destroying the bowling. He was delivering knock out punch. Ask, Lee, he would tell how hard the punch landed on him. A bouncer went for a six, a good length delivery went for a four. Normally, a player would have one or two shots when a ball pitched at a particular place. Pietersen had four to five of them. The shots were risky but it went his way that day. It looked like the ball pushed itself to reach the boundary and Pietersen had nothing much to do. It was all so effortless. Oh, hey, I totally forgot about Collingwood. He probably injured his neck, looking at the ball going in a different direction while standing at the other end. For 72 minutes, Collingwood witnessed some sheer brilliance. He made 10 off 51 deliveries.
After his dismissal, keeper Jones played his role. He had a good 24 minutes to watch the Pietersen’s play. Unlike Collingwood, Jones witnessed a play that was a mixture of both attack and defence. A sort of controlled game. May be, Jones got bored of it got himself in trouble against Tait.

Later, Giles who looked all brisk came in. Now, Jones and Collingwood were mere visitors but Giles wasn’t. He was performing an impromptu out there.

Reaching the nervous nineties, Pietersen’s play turned into a thriller. He wasn’t taking any risk, slowly putting away those which deserved that treatment.

Tait had the ball in his hand as Pietersen was batting at 98. He had to keep it cool. Two deliveries later, Pietersen showed his way of keeping cool, drove an outside off delivery to a boundary. There it was.

The final session of the play had Pietersen relaxing. No, he didn’t go berserk but waited. He played all those mind games and make the bowlers do errors. He had the last laugh. A short ball from Lee, fractionally short and then full-toss from Warne, had Pietersen thanking them.

The Australian bowlers were losing it. Pietersen made them lose. A fuller ball outside from McGrath, literally a free hit from Warne and then he made it to 150 with a lethal smash through the square. It was a delivery completely wide from the stumps from Warne.

It took McGrath special to dismiss Pietersen minutes later at 158. A standing ovation from the crowd as he walked back to the pavilion. The match was almost saved. England was a few hours away from getting that urn for the first time.

Now, the impromptu act of Giles came to an end at 59. Kudos, Giles, it was fun.

It shouldn’t be Pietersen’s day. It could have gone either way. Had Hayden or Gilchrist picked up the catch when he was batting at zero, Had Warne grabbed that one, off McGrath’s bowling, when Pietersen was batting at 15, things would have been different. He would have long gone. His career could have gone too. Luck favours the brave, duh. Pietersen was brave that day and everything was supposed to happen. His ton. England’s win, everything.