Kevin Pietersen is one of the best performers for England in recent times. The English batsman has broken a plethora of records so far and has given too many beautiful moments to the world of cricket. The former cricketer had proven his proves not only in the shorter format of the game but was equally good in the Tests. Pietersen has the second-highest run total from his first 25 Tests, behind only Sir Don Bradman of Australia, and was the fastest player, in terms of days, to reach 4,000, 5,000 and 7,000 Test runs Now as the former English cricketer turns 40, let’s have a look back at the top five performances in the Tests. Rohit Sharma’s Daughter Samaira Adorably Greets Kevin Pietersen Saying, ‘Yo’, Mumbai Indians Shares the Video.

159 vs Australia in 2005

Way back in 2005, hosted at the Oval, the English cricketer single-handedly took on the mighty Australians in the Ashes 2005 and scored a century on the fifth day of the match. Needless to say that he saved the team from a loss and the match ended with a draw. Thus team England won the game to walk away with the trophy for the first time since 1987.

100 vs South Africa in 2008

Hosted at the Oval in England, South Africa got bundled out on the score of 194. It was Kevin Pietersen's brilliant hundred that helped them reach a total of 316 and thus played a vital role in the team's win.

202* vs India in 2011:

This is surely labelled as the slowest test century ever by Kevin Pietersen against India. But it was quite a special one as he scored a hundred on his home soil after a long gap of three years. The century also helped the home team to cruise to a thumping win.

151 vs Sri Lanka in 2012:

Now, this match was played in Colombo. The English cricketer just took 109 balls to reach his century. Kevin Pietersen led the team to square the series and thus ended the four-match losing streak for the side.

149 vs South Africa In 2012:

This is touted to be one of KP’s top five innings for an obvious reason of course. Pace battery Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel were in a great form, but Pietersen too had been in the best form.

That's all we have for now. If you think that we have missed out on any more prolific innings by the English right-hander, feel free to comment below in the Comments Section. Coming back to Kevin Pietersen's birthday, we wish him a Very Happy Birthday.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 27, 2020 08:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).