Mumbai – England may have jettisoned Kevin Pietersen but the maverick batsman’s hard-hitting ability fetched him the highest bid among foreign players at yesterday’s Indian Premier League (IPL) auction.
Pietersen, available for the entire duration of the cash-rich IPL after being shunned by England, was picked up by Delhi, the franchise he played for last year, for 90 million Indian rupees ($1.45 million) after an intense bidding war.

The Chennai, Hyderabad and Punjab franchises bid heavily for the 33-year-old, whose base price was 20 million Indian rupees ($321 200), but Delhi bagged his services after using their right to match the highest bid.

“Morning – so happy to be back with the Delhi family! Lovely start to the day,” Pietersen, the former England captain, said on his Twitter account.

India’s Yuvraj Singh drew the highest bid of 140 million Indian rupees ($2.25 million) in the morning session of the auction and was bought by the Vijay Mallya-owned Bangalore franchise.

Meanwhile, Shaun Marsh has made a timely unbeaten half-century to lead Australia out of trouble against South Africa on the first day of the opening Test yesterday.

Having initially been left at home because of injury, and then recovering and arriving just in time to be picked for the first Test, Marsh was 67 not out at tea to lift Australia to 176-4.

The tourists were 24-2 when Marsh walked out and 98-4 when captain Michael Clarke fell to a short-ball trap for one of two wickets for Dale Steyn (2-34).

Marsh survived a dropped catch on 12 and another near-miss but was still there at the end of the second session to even the contest after South Africa’s early strikes.- Sport24.

 

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