Kevin Pietersen is light on his feet and heavy with his strokes. He waltzed at the crease here on Thursday with shots that were both graceful and inventive.
The smooth-stroker was unbeaten with a 52-ball 73 as England won the first Super Eights duel of the ICC World Twenty20 by six wickets with three deliveries to spare.
Chasing 148 after inserting Pakistan, England, guided by Pietersen's brilliance, managed to nail a potentially hazardous chase on a lively pitch. The innings was well-paced; only two runs were required in the final over.
Earlier, paceman Stuart Broad and left-arm spinner Michael Yardy impressed as Pakistan was pegged back when poised for a surge. England, however, was let off the hook by Pakistan's sloppy catching.
Saeed Ajmal grassed a regulation offering at mid-on after appearing to have the ball in control to reprieve opener Craig Kieswetter (on zero) off paceman Abdul Razzaq. Then, Ajmal put down Michael Lumb (on 23), left-arm speedster Mohammed Aamer being the bowler to suffer.
And Razzaq failed to latch on to a return catch when Pietersen was on 21. It proved a costly lapse.
After Kieswetter and the more fluent Lumb had powered England to a strong start - the openers put on 44 in 5.4 overs - Pietersen took charge.
Crucially, he forced the Pakistani bowlers to alter their length. He danced down the track to convert the length to drive, loft, flick and glance both the pacemen and the spinners.
He won the crucial duel against leg-spinner Shahid Afridi; the on-the-walk strike over cover reflected his urge to dominate. The manner in which Pietersen, using his feet, clipped Afridi displayed his balance and timing.
Indeed, Pietersen was at his fluent best. The lofted six over long off - against the spin - off off-spinner Ajmal was high on the scale of difficulty.
Paul Collingwood batted smartly, rotating the strike. England lost its skipper and Eoin Morgan towards the end but then Pietersen had inflicted too much damage for his side to be in any trouble.
Earlier, Pakistan started in an emphatic manner with Kamran Akmal pulling the first ball of the match - from left-armer Ryan Sidebottom - over the ropes.
The dangerous Akmal dazzled briefly before Broad, extracting good bounce from the pitch, consumed the batsman on the hook. Meanwhile, the left-handed Salman Butt, drove, sliced and flicked to the delight of the Pakistani supporters. Off-spinner Graeme Swann, a quality bowler, deceived Butt in the flight to terminate a promising innings.
Yardy, quicker through the air with his left-arm spin, took out Mohammed Hafeez with a change of pace.
Off the very next ball – it was the 11th over of the innings – Afridi set out for a non-existent single to cover only to be sent back by Umar Akmal. The Pakistan captain could not regain his crease. England had struck a body blow.
Umar Akmal, a naturally free-stroking batsman, produced a few sparkling shots but Pakistan continued to lose wickets. Misbah-ul-Haq fell to an attempted reverse sweep off Yardy. And Umar fell to a sensational catch from Pietersen at deep mid-wicket when he attempted to muscle a short ball from Sidebottom. Pietersen, running with his back to the ball, anticipated to perfection.
It was his afternoon at the Kensington Oval. Pietersen was rightly adjudged Man of the Match.
Brief Scores:
Pakistan: 147 for nine in 20 overs (Salman Butt 34, Umar Akmal 30; Michael Yardy 2/19, Stuart Broad 2/25, Ryan Sidebottom 2/28).
England: 148 for four in 19.3 overs (Kevin Pietersen 70 not out, Michael Lumb 25, Craig Kieswetter 25; Saeed Ajmal 2/15).
