After a shaky start to the ICC World Twenty20, England’s form improved enough for them to go on and defeat Australia by seven wickets in the final.

One of the key factors in England’s win was the return to form of star batsman Kevin Pietersen. He has had a lot of criticism in the last year and had to take a lot of time out to recover from surgery on his Achilles tendon.

Although Pietersen took a break from the tournament to be at the birth of his first child, he returned to hit 47 from 31 balls in the final. His performances throughout the tournament won him the player of the tournament award.

England’s other star with the bat in the final was Craig Kieswetter, who was named man of the match after striking 63 from 49 deliveries.

“It’s been a great experience,” he said. “To play against the Australians in the final makes it all much better.

Australia captain Michael Clarke paid tribute to England, who won with three overs to spare.

“You’ve got to give credit to England,” he said, “they outplayed us today. They’ve had a wonderful tournament.”

Australians had something to cheer later in the day when their team beat New Zealand to win the Women’s World Twenty20. The match was very close, with Australia winning by just three runs.