PL 5: It was a special innings, says Kevin Pietersen

New Delhi: Kevin Pietersen on Thursday described his swashbuckling unbeaten century as one of his favourite knocks, which helped his team Delhi Daredevils register a five-wicket win over Deccan Chargers in an IPL 5 match here.
"It is an amazing feeling to score a century in T20 cricket. This is my first in this format, so it has to be my favourite," Pietersen said after he smashed 103 off 64 as Delhi registered their fourth victory of the season. “It is good to get a century in T20 cricket. It was a good wicket to bat on and also good for the pacers who bent their back, not much for the spinners. In Twenty20 you need entertaining wicket," he added.

The former England skipper, who was adjudged Man of the Match for his whirlwind ton, said he tried to play according to the situation. "I played as per the situation. Once you get yourself in there, you can get the boundaries. I was in good form against Sri Lanka and it is all about backing yourself in the field," Pietersen said.
"When you lose a wicket, you slow down and Ross's [Taylor] wicket put the pressure on me. They [Deccan] played good cricket," he added. Pietersen, 31, also heaped praise on young spinner Shahbaz Nadeem, who returned with figures of 3 for 16 in his four overs. "He bowled a good spell in the last match, taking 3 for 9 against Mumbai [Indians]. He was fantastic today as well. He changes his angle and is a clever bowler. There were talks of who could be the spinner of IPL 5 and he is turning out to be a superstar," Pietersen said.
When asked about Deccan’s performance, Pietersen said, "I feel sorry for Deccan. They played good cricket. They are a good team and could have won in Mumbai, but I think it is still a long way to go and nothing is lost for them."
Deccan’s coach Darren Lehmann blamed his butterfingered fielders for the loss and said the three dropped catches of Pietersen proved costly for his team. "Our fielding is not good enough. You can't drop Kevin. It was one of the best innings that we have seen and when you drop someone like him, it costs you the game," he said. "We bowled well early on but Kevin took the game away from us. In the 12th-13th over we lost our way because of some poor decisions," he added.
Lehmann said his team was 20 runs short at the end. "We were probably 20 runs short with the bat. We are playing 90 per cent but we need to put another 10 per cent. But I am not disheartened yet. We are playing good cricket. It is a young side but we are not finishing well," he added.