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KP farewells Big Bash in sensational style

Kevin Pietersen reflects on his final Big Bash innings after bidding farewell to the Stars and the BBL at the MCG on Saturday night

When Kevin Pietersen walked out to bat for the final time in the Big Bash at the MCG on Saturday evening, he thought to himself, ‘here’s an opportunity to do something pretty cool’.

And so he did, Pietersen’s classy 46 from 23 deliveries ensuring the Stars ended what was otherwise a tough BBL|07 campaign on a winning note, successfully chasing down the Hurricanes’ 7-185.

He signed off in style, coming in at No.6 with the Stars 4-71 and showing all his class in his final Big Bash knock, scoring six fours and clearing the boundary twice. 

Pietersen seemed set to bring up another BBL half-century when he went on the attack in the 16th over, smashing three consecutive boundaries and then a six off England import Tymal Mills, but his onslaught was cut short when the Hurricanes quick held on to a sharp return catch.

“What Australia, what the Stars, what this four years has meant to me is a hell of a lot,” Pietersen said after the Stars sealed a three-wicket win.

“To finish the way we finished here, to get a W, to get some runs, to raise $25 grand for rhinos and the awareness that went around the world for the poaching of our animals is, it’s absolutely incredible.

“It’s my last time out there, I was out there with a free spirit and that’s the way I’ve played my whole career too, I’ve gone out and not feared failure.

“I certainly didn’t fear failure this evening. I just wanted to hit a few balls to get myself in … and then I needed to target a couple of bowlers.

“I knew Mills wasn’t having a great night of it and I knew he was under pressure so I thought he was the man to go for.”

Pietersen pummels Hogg, Renegades

After topping the Stars’ run scoring for three consecutive seasons, Pietersen’s final tournament in green reaped 226 runs at 28.25, with one half-century.

All in all, he scored 1110 runs from 33 matches at a strike rate of 137.20 in four years with the Stars.

Saturday’s knock wasn’t enough to have Pietersen second-guessing his decision to call time on his Big Bash career. The 37-year-old will next join the Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League, while he remains on the fence about whether he will play one last domestic T20 tournament in South Africa to round out 2018 and his playing days.

“Not at all,” he said. “I know I’d be flogging a dead horse. I knew there’d be a possibility I’d be able to rinse – and it would be rinse, I know I’m not at the races every single fixture at the moment so it would be a rinsing if I came and asked for another couple of years on a contract.”

The departures of Pietersen and fellow import Luke Wright means the Stars will be on the hunt for two new internationals for BBL|08 – and Pietersen believes the Melbourne club must take a completely different approach when assessing new talent.

“I don’t think it’s a wise idea for the Stars to have two overseas batsmen, we need that allrounder and that wrist spinner. That’s the variety we need,” he said.

“In Australia generally you get good batsmen who can come and whack it. We need a couple of those at the top of the order and I know for sure they’re going to go hunting and searching for a couple of Australian batters, but then I think we need to cover all bases.

“We’ve just got to make sure we’ve got some matchwinners in the team, we’ve lacked some match-winning ability this year.”

Match Highlights: Stars upset the Hurricanes

And while Pietersen won’t be playing for the Stars in BBL|08, he does hope to remain involved in some capacity – be it in coaching, mentoring or list management.

“I’ll sit down with (the club) next week and we’ll see where we get to.”

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