WITH MINIMAL COLLATERAL DAMAGE...:

Double ton for KP as England cruise (Evening Standard, 05.12.10)

Kevin Pietersen turned his first Test hundred for 21 months into a chanceless, unbeaten 213 as England continued their conspicuous domination of Australia at the Adelaide Oval.

Pietersen, without a century since March 2009 in Trinidad, moved from an unbeaten 85 into three figures in just under half an hour on a cloudy third morning of this second Ashes Test. Only the rain could hold up Pietersen as a steady downfall meant there was no play after tea.

Even after his third-wicket partner Alastair Cook (148) was gone, Pietersen had helped England plough on to a teatime 551 for four - 306 in front as they scent the chance of a 1-0 series lead with three to play. [...]

For England, it was a second double-hundred already on this tour following Cook's match-saving tour de force in Brisbane last week, as they topped 500 for the second successive innings - at the collateral cost of only five wickets.