Day four at the Adelaide Oval

After singing Kevin Pietersen's (227) praises for much of yesterday, he again proved to England why he is such an asset to the team. As a player he is undoubtedly talented, but his influence on the field has been a far greater gift, a talisman by name and nature.

Despite only adding 14 to his overnight score before falling to victim off a slog-sweep off Xavier Doherty (1-158), KP made his highest ever international score, beating his previous best of 226. Receiving a warm round of applause from all corners of the ground on his departure, the 30-year-old has hit form just when needed, leaving Ricky Ponting in a dire frame of mind.

Two scores of 158 and now a 227 will tell you that Pietersen is settling into a good trend against the Baggy Green. At the Oval in 2005 he saved England's second innings, seeing them home to the draw they craved when defeat seemed inevitable. The other was at this very ground four years ago, but as we all know, England imploded spectacularly.

Ian Bell (68 not out) continued his rich vein of form while Matt Prior (27 not out) survived a pair by the skin of his teeth before entering one-day mode to pile the misery on the Aussie bowlers. So 375 runs separated the respective first-innings' totals, an interesting reminder of the gulf in class for this match.

Simon Katich (43), suffering from an Achilles injury, finally faced his first ball after four days of waiting, but was unable to provide any serious heroics. Ponting (9) became the outstanding Graeme Swann's second victim to round off a poor Test for the captain.

Shane Watson (57) once again failed to convert a gritty half-century into something more substantial, nicking Steven Finn to Andrew Strauss. With his new status as a 'walking wicket' weighing him down, Michael Clarke (80) produced a stirring knock to keep his critics at bay.

You could not have written a script for this series, and another day ended in curious fashion, part-time spinner Pietersen providing the perfect end to the perfect day by taking the wicket of Clarke with the final ball as the sun sank behind the stands. With confidence soaring, a jubilant Pietersen claimed, "I'm an all-rounder now".

Steady Kev, keep that ego in check, on second thought it could be the first time an international side has beaten the Aussies in their own backyard by an innings since 1993. Maybe we can afford a little excitement.