Martin wary of Pietersen threat

Chris Martin celebrates Alastair Cook's wicket in the first ODI at Wellington © Getty Images

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Chris Martin has identified Kevin Pietersen as the main danger to New Zealand’s hopes of wrapping up a one-day series triumph against England.

The two sides meet again on Wednesday in the fourth game of the five-match series with New Zealand holding a 2-1 lead after England bounced back impressively to win in Auckland last Friday.

But Martin, New Zealand’s leading seamer, is concerned that Pietersen is yet to have a major impact on the series and the short boundaries at McLean Park may spark England’s leading batsman into life.

“He’s a tall guy and tends to hit good-length balls at the top of the bounce and that makes you wary about the lengths and lines you need to hit because there’s a very small margin for error,” said Martin.

“At this stage we’re keeping him under wraps a little and he hasn’t broken out completely just yet, but we’re aware he’s a very good player.”

In fact, by Pietersen’s high standards, he is going through a bit of a slump in form, having scored only one half-century in his last eight one-day internationals and only 76 runs in the opening three matches in the series.

His innings of 41 off 65 balls at Eden Park was also a more subdued performance than normal and Martin believes the key to preventing Pietersen from dominating is to keep him quiet early in his innings.

Kevin Pietersen drives on his way to 41 during the third ODI at Auckland © Getty Images

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“If you tie him down for a few balls he does have this knack of putting his partner under pressure when they run a quick single,” added Martin.

“Most of the guys in the ring have been aware their running has been pretty bad in this series, so when he gets out there it’s important to put pressure on him and make sure he doesn’t hit boundaries because he can be the guy who runs other people out as well.”

Pietersen has not been the only culprit for England in that regard - they have suffered seven run-outs in the first three matches of the series, through mix-ups and the athleticism of New Zealand’s close fielders.

Martin said: “We’ve got a few genuine athletes who are nimble on their feet and pride themselves on their fielding.

“If you’re a renowned guy as a run-out king you can still contribute to the team so guys like Ross Taylor and Jamie How can really make an impact in the field if they’ve had a bad day with the bat.”

But for all the impressive parts to New Zealand’s performances, England’s fightback has started to gnaw at them as a missed opportunity to wrap up the series.

Another defeat at McLean Park on Wednesday and both sides will travel to Christchurch for a tense decider on Saturday.

Martin added: “We don’t want to go to Christchurch at 2-2 and we didn’t want to come here at 2-1.

“Each game is another opportunity for us to wrap the series up. If we went into a deciding game from being 2-0 up, that would not be a good prospect for us.”