Pietersen to return for T20 v NZealand: ECB

LONDON: England batsman Kevin Pietersen is poised for a return to international cricket in the second Twenty20 match against New
Zealand after a long lay-off with injury, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Thursday.

The ECB named a 14-man squad for the two-match series at The Oval in London on June 25 and 27, with Middlesex's Eoin Morgan captaining the side.

"Kevin Pietersen, who has been unavailable for England since March due to a knee injury, will join the squad for the second match provided he successfully completes an LV County Championships game for Surrey beginning on Friday 21 June," they said in a statement.

Pietersen is regarded as the most talented batsman in the England set-up and has scored 7,499 runs, including 22 hundreds, in 94 Tests at an impressive average of 49.01.

In T20 internationals, he has scored 1,176 runs at an average of 37.93.

The 32-year-old was briefly dropped from the side during last year's series at home to South Africa after allegedly sending text messages critical of then England captain Andrew Strauss, who has since retired, to players from the opposition.

It was expected Pietersen would have just two matches -- Surrey's County Championship fixture away to Yorkshire and then England's four-day Ashes warm-up at Essex starting a week on Sunday -- to prove his fitness in time for the first Test.

England's squad includes two players yet to play for their country in any format: Yorkshire batsman Gary Ballance and Warwickshire quick Boyd Rankin.

England squad to face New Zealand in two T20 matches:
Eoin Morgan (Middlesex, captain), Gary Ballance (Yorkshire), Ravi Bopara (Essex), Danny Briggs (Hampshire), Jos Buttler (Somerset, wk), Jade Dernbach (Surrey), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Michael Lumb (Nottinghamshire), Kevin Pietersen (Surrey, June 27 fixture only), Boyd Rankin (Warwickshire), Ben Stokes (Durham), James Tredwell (Kent), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Luke Wright (Sussex)
(AFP)