July 07, 2007	Saturday	Jamadi-us-Sani 21, 1428

BIRMINGHAM, July 6: Kevin Pietersen may be undergoing something of a slump by his own standards but Matt Prior has said it will be no surprise to his England team-mates if he plays a match-winning innings in Saturday’s final One-day International against the West Indies at Trent Bridge.

Pietersen, the leading batsman in the International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings for one-day cricket, has scored just 77 runs in four ODIs this season.

But with the three-match series level at 1-1, after West Indies’ 61-run win at Edgbaston here on Wednesday, Prior is expecting great things of his fellow South Africa-born cricketer.

“He is a fantastic cricketer, a champion legend who will become a legend of the game,” England wicket-keeper Prior said on Thursday. “When he doesn’t score runs for a couple of games, people start talking about a crisis. He's hitting the ball brilliantly in the nets and I’m sure he’ll score a brilliant hundred very soon – and it might even be on Saturday.”

However, even if Pietersen does come good that may not be enough for England if they cannot dismiss Shivnarine Chanderpaul cheaply, provided he takes the field after suffering a right ankle ligament injury.

The 32-year-old left-hander averaged over 148 in a four-match Test series the West Indies lost 3-0, batting for more than 24 hours.

And he provided fresh evidence of his ability to attack, as well as defend, with 116 not out in Wednesday's victory.

“I’ve spent most of the summer looking at the back of his bat,” Prior said. “He’s a fantastic player and he’s showed that time and again in the past few weeks. You must take your hat off to him. His concentration seems unbreakable and he’s just so stubborn, wants to bat and bat, never gets bored with batting and scoring runs,” Prior added.

“He's having one of those purple patches that the top players go through. He’s very experienced and I don’t think any vocals from me from behind the stumps are going to affect him,” said Prior, not shy of making the odd comment.—AFP