Chester-Le-Street, Jun 17: Stating that innovations are an essential part of the game, explosive middle-order batsman Kevin Pietersen has dismissed criticisms of his remarkable reverse-hit sixes during England's 114-run victory in the opening match of the one-day home series over New Zealand which has shocked purists around the world.

''It's ridiculous, it's absolutely stupid. Reverse sweeps have been part of the game since however long and I'm just fortunate enough that I can hit it a bit further,'' Pietersen said. ''Everyone wants to see brand new inventions. Nobody has seen that before and that's a new shot played today and people should be saying it's the new way to go, not criticising everything that happens on a daily basis,'' he added. The 27-year-old informed that the shots were not an off-the-cuff reaction but were well thought out and planned in advance.

''It's something I practise, it's something I visualise, I go through routines in the nets,'' Pietersen stated.

When asked what prompted him to play such unconventional strokes Pietersen said,''It's a boundary option, and one boundary was huge so I chose the other one as it was closer and only had one fielder.

''You guys might give it a name. I guess it was a left-handed slog/sweep. This was a day when it worked, but it might well not work on other days.'' England are now 1-0 up in the five-match ODI series ahead of the second encounter at Edgbaston on June 18.

They had earlier claimed the Test series 2-0 and are on course to deny the Kiwis a victory in any major international during this tour.

UNI