CRICKET: Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen gave England a glimpse of the future as each made his second Test hundred to keep the tourists alive in their three-match series against Pakistan.
It remains to be seen whether the pair's fourth-wicket effort - they put on 154 to help England to a stumps total of 391 for seven on day three of the second Test in Faisalabad - will prove the beginning of a telling fightback as the tourists bid to recover from 1-0 down.
There can be little doubt, though, that Bell's 115 and Pietersen's 100 have come near the outset of two major Test careers which should shape a healthy era for England's middle order.
The two protagonists, who both profited from their share of luck on a day when Pakistan let seven chances go begging in the field, confirmed at close of play that they enjoy batting together and believe their contrasting styles are complementary.
Pietersen, whose appearance of thrash and bluster belies a more studied gameplan which plays to his attacking strengths, is a notoriously dangerous player once set, and it was no surprise to see him racing past his partner to three figures off only 137 balls.
Bell needed 232 deliveries to reach the milestone and in the end batted for more than six hours.
But England were, if anything, indebted more to him than their Ashes hero Pietersen for the fact they reached stumps only 71 first-innings runs adrift after the hosts had enjoyed the significant advantage of batting first on an entirely benign pitch.
Pietersen led the way for the mutual appreciation club as he reflected on his and Bell's innings. "He is fantastic - cool, calm, collected - and his technique is so good," the South Africa-born batsman said of his fourth-wicket partner.
Bell agreeably followed suit. "We complement each other. He's great to watch, and I can just knock it around and get Kev on strike," he explained.
The association was interrupted only when Pietersen - who had gone to his hundred with a typical touch of bravado by dispatching a monster pull over midwicket for six in Shoaib Akhtar's first over with the second new ball - tried to repeat the dose.
He merely sent a mistimed shot straight into the hands of mid-on.
By then he had hit three sixes and six fours in an innings he noted as being significantly more controlled and cautious than the norm - although he was at pains to stress that the fact he was arresting a worrying run of low scores played no part in the extra care he took.
"I knew that a score was round the corner. The game tests you occasionally; mother cricket definitely has a good go at you," he said.
If Pietersen was returning to form, Bell was confirming he is very much back in it after an awkward Ashes series and a torrid time early on this tour which meant he would have been dropped for the first Test had Michael Vaughan not been injured.
"It is probably my best day of Test cricket so far. At the start of this tour I was searching for a lot of confidence and form, and it took a bit of a break for me to get in there," Bell acknowledged.
There were a few more breaks along the way yesterday for both Bell and Pietersen, before Geraint Jones (55) supplemented their gains by adding a half-century of his own.
It had been imperative from a start-of-play 113 for three that England lost no more cheap wickets, and that they did not was down in part to that good fortune, as Pietersen in particular rode his luck.
The first significant scrape was Bell's on 38 when he was very lucky to escape as Kamran Akmal fluffed a clear-cut stumping chance after the batsman did not quite get to the pitch of a leg-break, trying to clip Danish Kaneria through the on side.
Thereafter confidence was gradually fostered, Pietersen looking a different player once he had reached double figures. When Pietersen did finally go, Bell knew he still had a big task on his hands - especially so after Andrew Flintoff had come and gone for a single, losing his middle-stump to the pace of Shoaib.
The Warwickshire youngster had another life - dropped by Salman Butt at square-leg - but right up until the moment he fell caught behind trying to cut Afridi, his was a traditional, five-day cricket innings in which he was well-served by a pedigree technique, fine timing, a cool head and enviable powers of concentration.
Scoreboard
Pakistan v England
(at Faisalabad)
Overnight: Pakistan 462 (Inzamam-ul-Haq 109, Shahid Afridi 92, Mohammad Yousuf 78); England 113 for 3.
England - First Innings:
I Bell c Kamran Akmal b Shahid Afridi 115
K Pietersen c M Yousuf b Shoaib A 100
A Flintoff b Shoaib Akhtar 1
G Jones lbw b Shahid Afridi 55
A Giles not out 23
S Udal not out 6
Extras (b1 lb7 w1 nb20) 29
Total 7 wkts (121 overs) 391
Fall of wickets: 1-33, 2-39, 3-107, 4-261, 5-272, 6-327, 7-378.
To Bat: M J Hoggard, S J Harmison.
Bowling: Shoaib Akhtar 23-2-76-2; Naved-ul-Hasan 20-2-63-2; Mohammad Sami 19-4-51-1; Shahid Afridi 25-3-74-2; Danish Kaneria 30-3-90-0; Shoaib Malik 4-0-29-0.
