Poms lose Pietersen

England's Kevin Pietersen will return home after a cracked right rib brought a premature end to his Australian tour.

England’s Kevin Pietersen will return home after a cracked right rib brought a premature end to his Australian tour. The 26-year-old suffered the injury when struck by a Glenn McGrath delivery as he top-scored with 82 in England’s defeat in the opening match of the triangular series at the MCG here today. His recovery time is expected to be at least 3-5 weeks.

Spurred on by a compelling run-a-ball 60 from Adam Gilchrist, Australia chased down England’s 242 for eight with 4.4 overs to spare to notch up an eight-wicket victory.

Gilchrist hammered seven fours and a six but even when both him and Matthew Hayden departed in quick succession, skipper Ricky Ponting compiled a steady 82 and Michael Clarke a measured 57 to steer them home with an unbroken stand of 133.

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Earlier, after skipper Michael Vaughan won the toss and elected to bat, England slipped to 73-3 before a fourth-wicket stand of 95 between Pietersen and Paul Collingwood (43) lifted the tourists towards a reasonable total.

Brief scores: England 242/8 (K Pietersen 82, A Flintoff 47 no, N Braken 3/46 lost to Australia 246/2 (A Gilchrist 60, R Ponting 82 no, M Clarke 54 no).