Kevin Pietersen will captain England in the final match of their one-day series against New Zealand on Saturday.

The South Africa-born batting star will take over from Paul Collingwood, who was given a four-match ban because of a slow over-rate during Thursday's match.

Pietersen, who turns 28 on Friday, has been England's unofficial vice-captain in one-day cricket since June 2007.

He said: "Captaining England has been a dream of mine but I understand that I'm assuming the role in Paul's absence.

This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar.

Leave a Reply