Kevin Pietersen drags hosts from the precipice

The Times' Mike Atherton looks at England's crucial match against India at Lord's and says Kevin Pietersen has been a bellwether for their fortunes in the ICC World Twenty20.

Some day, England will win a match in which Pietersen plays a minor part. At that point, once they have kicked their addiction to an over-reliance on him, we will know that they are a force in the one-day game.

In the Independent, Stephen Brenkley says Ryan Sidebottom earned redemption as improbably, nervously, deservedly, England defeated India by three runs.

Derek Pringle believes James Foster has been quick to seize his big opportunity in the tournament, and that his stumping of Yuvraj Singh will have done his Test credentials no harm. He writes in the Daily Telegraph that while Foster hasn't shone with the bat, England fans will be grateful that he persuaded England's selectors he could get useful Twenty20 runs.