Self-belief, arrogance, ego, call it what you want. Kevin Pietersen has it and uses it to great effect against Australia.

Another 70 runs and another cavalcade of outrageous shots, on an otherwise demoralising day for England, confirmed the South African-born Pietersen as the man who refuses to bow to the greatness of the team he is currently facing.

And another blast at his mate/sparring partner Shane Warne reignited the battle within the battle after the legendary leggie had patently won the Adelaide round of their own heavyweight stoush.

Following that last day dismissal which turned the England slip into a calamitous slide, Pietersen said it was the ball that got him, not Warne.

On Friday, both ball and bowler were in danger, as the 26-year-old looked to reestablish his superiority.

Pietersen said his strategy was to keep the momentum of the game moving forward.

"I don't like a game going nowhere. I'd rather a game going somewhere than playing nothing," Pietersen said.

"Going out there against these guys, I have always said I like challenging myself, and what better team to challenge yourself against, against such a great bowling attack.

"That is what I do enjoy, challenging myself against blokes like McGrath, Warne, Stuart Clark and Brett Lee."

An early strategy of 'leave one, hit one' was employed after Pietersen was called into action as early as the fourth over of the day, after Glenn McGrath removed Paul Collingwood for 11.

But as he ran out of partners, Pietersen dropped the 'leave one' part, mainly when Warne was at the other end.

One pyrotechnic over, Warne's fifth, seemed a deliberate retort to the Australian counter-tactic of seven boundary riders and a deep cover. It produced 15 runs and enormous entertainment.

Four successive drives over the blonde spinners' head almost defied belief, and certainly defied the logic of England's declining situation.

The fact one of those was dropped by a sprawling McGrath on the boundary added to the theatre.

And such was Pietersen's mindset he simply had another go, got it right and smashed it into the Barmy Army for a maximum.

Pietersen's rearguard ended next over when he skied Brett Lee to long-off, where Andrew Symonds took a good catch running in.

And although England's tenuous hold on the Ashes loosened further, Pietersen's grip on the mantle as Australia's dominator tightened.

He now totals 811 runs in 15 innings against the world's best side, at an average of almost 58, with two hundreds and five fifties.

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