Summary Kevin Pietersen played lead role in England's recovery in 3rd Ashes test moving on to 78.
MANCHESTER, England (AP) - Kevin Pietersen played the lead role in England s recovery in the third Ashes test on Saturday, moving on to 78 as the team reached tea on 211-4 on the third day at Old Trafford.
Pietersen s vital fourth-wicket stand with Ian Bell (51) extended to 101 runs in a wicket-less second session for Australia, which needs to win the match to stay alive in the series.
Replying to the Australians mammoth 527-7 declared, England s priority is to reach the follow-on mark of 328. That would make a draw likely and wrap up a third straight Ashes series for the hosts, who are 2-0 ahead.
Overnight pair Alastair Cook (62) and Jonathan Trott (5) fell before lunch, but Pietersen took the game to Australia s attack after a sketchy start and is in sight of his 23rd test century. Two sixes down the ground off offspinner Nathan Lyon are the highlights of his crowd-pleasing 143-ball knock.
When Cook was dismissed following a stunning catch from wicketkeeper Brad Haddin down the legside, England was rocking on 110-4, still 218 runs short of the follow-on mark.
Much hinged on the Pietersen-Bell partnership on a defining day in the series and they came through in England s best session of the match, playing expansively when the opportunities came and looking stout in defense.
There s no one better at hogging the limelight like the brash Pietersen, and he thrilled the crowd after a jittery first few overs when he fished at a couple of wide ones outside off stump.
Soon he was middling everything. He signaled his intent by lofting Lyon over mid-off for an early four, and then smashed him for two sixes in a row to bring up his fifty off 71 balls.
Bell was class personified as he seeks a century in a fourth successive Ashes test, also hitting Lyon over the ropes to inject more life into England s innings. A flourishing drive followed by a late cut for successive fours off Mitchell Starc drew admiring gasps from spectators.
Pietersen escaped in the 73rd over, on 62, when a delivery from Shane Watson rapped him on the pad, but Australia decided against a review. A replay showed the ball would have hit leg stump and captain Michael Clarke held his face in his hands when he saw it on the big screen.
Earlier, Cook and Trott failed to reproduce another of their stoic stands after resuming on 52-2, with runs as hard to come by as they were in a tricky two-hour spell late Friday when Joe Root and nightwatchman Tim Bresnan fell to Peter Siddle.
Trott never got going and by the time he tentatively edged a delivery from Ryan Harris to Clarke at second slip, he d added just three runs in 22 balls.
Cook began to settle, passing 50 after 138 balls, but perished in disappointing fashion when he glanced a poor ball from Starc down the legside, with Haddin producing acrobatics to claim a one-handed catch.
Pietersen and Bell, though, have come to England s rescue.
