Kevin Pietersen will play for Surrey against Lancashire in a top of the table clash in the second division of the LV= County Championship at the Kia Oval.
The controversial batsman recorded a staggering 355 not out against Leicestershire in Surrey's last home game, but Pietersen has been absent due to a calf injury since he was told by the ECB that there was no chance of a recall to the international side.
Lancashire's recent record against Pietersen suggests he will play a prominent role in this match; the last time these two sides met, he hit another mammoth score of 234 not out at Guildford. Since that match in July 2012, these two have been separated by their own mixed fortunes, but both sides will be aiming to achieve promotion this season after strong starts to the campaign.
The home side, who occupy second place in Division Two, beat Kent by three wickets last week at Canterbury, while Lancashire achieved an innings victory over Derbyshire at Southport in their last Championship outing.
Perhaps, the worrying statistic for Lancashire is that they have not won a Championship match against Surrey at The Oval since 1997, a run of seven matches at the ground without a victory in four-day cricket.
The visitors suffered a comfortable defeat in the T20 Blast to Derbyshire, but their Championship form has seen them race to top of the table with a 32-point lead over Surrey, who have a game in hand over the Red Rose County.
Key Players:
Sri-Lankan batsman Kumar Sangakkara has proven to be a dependable batsman for Surrey, but this is hardly surprising given his incredible record. The 37-year-old has scored more than 10,000 runs in Test and One-Day cricket for Sri Lanka and his accumulation of 12,203 runs is the fifth-highest by any batsman in the history of Test cricket. Sangakkara has already recorded two centuries in his time at Surrey, including a highest score of 149 against Glamorgan on his debut for Surrey.
Ashwell Prince recorded the third double-hundred of his career and his second for Lancashire in their innings victory against Derbyshire. The South-African's score of 230 was the second-highest score of the season in this division, with only Pietersen's 350* beating his efforts. The Oval tends to favour the batting side and Prince's record of 771 runs at an average of 96.38 makes him the highest run-scorer in Division Two.
Team News:
Kevin Pietersen has overcome the calf injury that prevented him from playing a role in the knockout stages of the IPL, while Gary Wilson is unavailable due to international duties with Ireland in the Intercontinental Cup match against United Arab Emirates.
Surrey 13-man squad: Gareth Batty (c), Zafar Ansari, James Burke, Rory Burns, Tom Curran, Steve Davies, Matt Dunn, Ben Foakes, Stuart Meaker, Kevin Pietersen, Jason Roy, Kumar Sangakkara, Dominic Sibley.
James Faulkner is set to make his Championship debut for Lancashire after an indifferent first appearance in the Twenty20 contest against Derbyshire, but his international prowess will be vital if the visitors are to tame the likes of Pietersen and, of course, Kumar Sangakkara.
Lancashire 12-man squad: Steven Croft (c), Tom Bailey, Karl Brown, Jordan Clark, Alex Davies (w/k), James Faulkner, Paul Horton, Kyle Jarvis, Simon Kerrigan, Arron Lilley, Alviro Petersen, Ashwell Prince.
Match information:
Weather and conditions: Unfortunately, heavy rain looks set to washout the entire first day with heavy rain in Kennington. Weather improves on Day Two, but the rain is likely to return thereafter. For a full forecast click here.
Ground: The Kia Oval
Start time: 11.00am
Umpires: Alex Wharf, Billy Taylor
Odds (SkyBet): Surrey 10/11, Lancashire 4/5
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