Flintoff beats Pietersen in IPL battle

If Saturday brought one or two murmurs about the $1.55m price tag slapped on Andrew Flintoff, last night quelled the chatter. Pitted against Kevin Pietersen, his fellow English alpha male and the tournament's other record purchase, as early as the fifth game of the Indian Premier League, Flintoff biffed an unbeaten 22 off 13 balls for the Chennai Super Kings, bulldozed his way to figures of 1 for 11, held the winning catch and generally thrust out his chest. It was all in a night's work, writes Lawrence Booth in the Guardian.

If you were looking for the physical embodiment of the phrase "pumped-up", Andrew Flintoff provided it on Monday. His pride stung by a ropey IPL debut, and his dander roused by the prospect of bowling to Kevin Pietersen, he put in one of the most hostile spells of the tournament so far, writes Simon Briggs in the Daily Telegraph.