Surrey make strong start against Essex but Kevin Pietersen out for only 32

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/apr/26/surrey-essex-kevin-pietersen-match-report

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From the most pedestrian of run-ups and the loosest of actions, the gentle medium pace of Jesse Ryder can be devastating. Just ask Kevin Pietersen, who was the first of two wickets in three balls for the New Zealander as Essex tried desperately to wrest control from Surrey on day one at the Kia Oval.

Ryder, who is 15 months into a self-imposed hiatus from international cricket, claimed three for 52 from 18 overs as the hosts reached an impressive 293 for five by stumps, despite losing the toss and being put in on a day when overcast conditions necessitated the use of floodlights.

It was a box office treble of lbws too, with the Sri Lankan master Kumar Sangakkara pinned before tea on 52 before Pietersen and Jason Roy were both mugged with the second new ball by deliveries that moved off the seam.

“Jesse is a batsman’s nightmare,” said the Essex coach Paul Grayson, who watched Ryder take six in their season-opening win over Kent in Chelmsford last week. “He nips it off the surface and makes you do what you don’t want to.”

The Surrey opener Rory Burns said: “We are happy where we are after being inserted.” He struck 78 from 159 balls, the bulk of which went behind square. “If anything the lack of pace [from Ryder] helps, it makes it hard to play your shots. But we’ll be looking at 400-plus.”

Despite Ryder’s intervention, the visitors struggled to contain Surrey on their home patch, with Steven Davies, fresh from his maiden first-class double-century in Cardiff last week, sitting 69 not out with wicketkeeper Gary Wilson, unbeaten on 23, for company.

The Essex captain, James Foster, will be disappointed after seeing his bowling attack blunted by the bat of Burns first thing, the 24-year-old left-hander guiding the hosts to 84 for one at lunch, with Zafar Ansari the man out on 18, when early wickets were the order of the day.

Ansari, who was trapped lbw by James Porter, had already been granted a life on five when dropped by Greg Smith at third slip.

Spare a thought for the fielder, who went on to suffer a day to forget in which he dropped a second at point – a rocket off the middle of Pietersen’s bat on 27 – before aborting his seventh over with the ball due to the pain.

Burns was the first wicket after lunch and he will rue the shot. Having just witnessed Sangakkara launch Monty Panesar down for six towards the Vauxhall End, he attempted his own impersonation, only to edge to gully. It brought Pietersen to the crease, with a clipped two to third man making him the fastest Surrey batsman to 1,000 first-class runs, in his 17th innings.

Don’t bet against Sangakkara making it a short-lived reign, underlined by the back-to-back fours crashed off Panesar to reach his half-century. After three knocks the Sri Lankan has 241 runs for the club and will fancy it should be more but for football referee-turned-umpire Martin Bodenham, whose finger went up for Ryder’s marginal first.

Roy’s departure two balls after Pietersen went for 32 could easily have sent Surrey into a tailspin on 243 for five. But in Davies they boast a man playing with a new-found zest, and he added 50 with Wilson in 14.3 testing overs under lights before the close.