Koertzen apologises to Lee over Pietersen lbw

Brett Lee takes a stunning catch to dismiss Andrew Strauss on Saturday © Getty Images Enlarge

Brett Lee received an apology from Rudi Koertzen after hitting Kevin Pietersen with a thigh-high full-toss on day three. While Pietersen complained painfully about what he considered was a beamer and followed the next delivery with more words, Koertzen said sorry to Lee because he apparently lost sight of the ball - and cost him a wicket.

Lee, who has been criticised for attempted yorkers that have gone badly wrong in one-day games, fired a 144.8kph delivery at Pietersen's foot, but instead hit the batsman's leg in front of the stumps. "I think Rudi just lost it, he said that he didn't really pick it up," Lee told AAP. "He said he may have got it wrong, he apologised."

Finishing with figures of 2 for 58 after a sensational afternoon of pace bowling, Lee said he was disappointed not to get the wicket. "I wasn't annoyed with Rudi, I know that's the way it goes," he said. "I was trying to hit him on the full on the toes and it just went a little bit higher than what I expected."

Lee captured his first wicket of the second innings when he took a stunning catch off Andrew Strauss. "I looked up and knew it wasn't going to reach to Gilly, and midwicket wasn't really going to have a go at it, so I thought I'd better put it back in first gear and see if I could get there," he said. "It was lucky the ball fell in my hand nicely."