KEVIN Pietersen was left with just 20 hours to prepare for today’s World Twenty20 semi-final clash with Sri Lanka.
England’s star batsman was due to land in St Lucia late last night after flying back in from London. Pietersen's wife Jessica gave birth to a baby boy on Monday morning, two days after he flew out from Barbados to be present.
He had just produced two man of the match performances on the trot to help England beat Pakistan and South Africa.
But the 29-year-old was on the other side of the Atlantic when they scraped a three-wicket win over New Zealand to guarantee their place in the final four, where they will meet Kumar Sangakkara’s men at Beausejour Stadium.
But skipper Paul Collingwood thinks Pietersen will take the trip back home in his stride and has no worries about throwing him straight back in to replace Ravi Bopara.
Asked if he had any concerns, Collingwood said: “No, I don’t think so at all. In this form of the game especially, your frame of mind is the crucial thing.
“He’s going to be in a great frame of mind. He’s just had a baby boy, he’ll be a happy man.
“He’s had a little bit of a break and it might do him the world of good just to come straight back into it.
“There’s nothing technical he has to change. It’s just his mindset and I’m sure his mind is 100 per cent right. He’ll be raring to go.
“He put two man-of-the-match performances in before he left.
“The way he’s playing at the moment, getting a player back like that is a great confidence boost.”
Collingwood is also convinced his team are in the right frame of mind that could set them up for a showdown with Australia on Sunday.
“The guys are ready, they are excited,” he said.
“If there was a feeling around the camp that the guys are nervous or anything like that then maybe something would have to be said.
“But the guys are so confident and focused on the jobs they’ve got to do and the roles they’ve got to play.
“We’ll have a team meeting tonight but let me tell you I’m not going to come out with any rip-roaring speech.
“We’re confident that if we put similar performances in we’re going to win.
“We’re not going overboard because we’ve got to give Sri Lanka a lot of respect – they’re a great Twenty20 side – but if we play anything like we can, we’re confident we can win.”
England’s star batsman was due to land in St Lucia late last night after flying back in from London. Pietersen's wife Jessica gave birth to a baby boy on Monday morning, two days after he flew out from Barbados to be present.He had just produced two man of the match performances on the trot to help England beat Pakistan and South Africa.
But the 29-year-old was on the other side of the Atlantic when they scraped a three-wicket win over New Zealand to guarantee their place in the final four, where they will meet Kumar Sangakkara’s men at Beausejour Stadium.
But skipper Paul Collingwood thinks Pietersen will take the trip back home in his stride and has no worries about throwing him straight back in to replace Ravi Bopara.
Asked if he had any concerns, Collingwood said: “No, I don’t think so at all. In this form of the game especially, your frame of mind is the crucial thing.
“He’s going to be in a great frame of mind. He’s just had a baby boy, he’ll be a happy man.
“He’s had a little bit of a break and it might do him the world of good just to come straight back into it.
“There’s nothing technical he has to change. It’s just his mindset and I’m sure his mind is 100 per cent right. He’ll be raring to go.
“He put two man-of-the-match performances in before he left.
“The way he’s playing at the moment, getting a player back like that is a great confidence boost.”
Collingwood is also convinced his team are in the right frame of mind that could set them up for a showdown with Australia on Sunday.
“The guys are ready, they are excited,” he said.
“If there was a feeling around the camp that the guys are nervous or anything like that then maybe something would have to be said.
“But the guys are so confident and focused on the jobs they’ve got to do and the roles they’ve got to play.
“We’ll have a team meeting tonight but let me tell you I’m not going to come out with any rip-roaring speech.
“We’re confident that if we put similar performances in we’re going to win.
“We’re not going overboard because we’ve got to give Sri Lanka a lot of respect – they’re a great Twenty20 side – but if we play anything like we can, we’re confident we can win.”
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