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England v West Indies, 3rd ODI, Trent Bridge
Powell reveals Pietersen plan
Cricinfo staff
July 8, 2007
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Daren Powell: 'I bowled a sharp ball at him and give him a stare'
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Daren Powell has said that West Indies deliberately targeted Kevin Pietersen in their decisive one-day international at Trent Bridge on Saturday. Pietersen, who has slipped to No.2 in the world rankings, was given a hostile welcome with a first-ball bouncer then edged his next delivery to second slip.
It was a classic piece of fast bowling from Powell who said: "After the first Test at Lord's [where Pietersen made a hundred], we realised that if we attacked him, he tried to go out of his shell and it progressively worked for us in the one-day series. We attacked him a lot and it paid off for us.
"To me, he's the kind of person who doesn't like people to get on top of him. When he comes out to bat, I normally talk to him and stuff like that, tell him things that probably make him uncomfortable. This time I didn't do that. I bowled a sharp ball at him and give him a stare. Then I got my ball in the right area, he went and played a stroke and he nicked one."
Powell, who took 4 for 40 and claimed the Man-of-the-Match award at Trent Bridge, added that he tried to learn from some of the world's best pace bowlers. "When you watch Makhaya Ntini and Shaun Pollock, they just give a batsman a stare and the great Glenn McGrath did the same thing. I just tried that and it worked."
"For the past couple of seasons representing the West Indies, when it's come to crucial games like this I haven't picked up any wickets at all, even in the last game of the World Cup [where England beat West Indies in Barbados].
"On Friday night I sat in my hotel room and thought about what I had to do to create pressure and take early wickets. On Saturday morning, I assessed the wicket when our guys went out to bat and I realised I had to bowl straight and vary my pace. I thought about my game, and put the ball in the right areas."
Powell, who has previously expressed a desire to play county cricket, also confirmed he'd been in talks with Glamorgan. "I'm still in negotiations. It would be nice to play some county cricket here whether it's Glamorgan or whoever.
"Playing county cricket, would help my game improve a notch for West Indies cricket as well. I just want to use it to propel my game to the next level."
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