Pietersen and Muralitharan square up again

NOTTINGHAM, England, June 1 (Reuters) Sri Lanka have been accused of being a one-man team for years.

The tag, however, could just as easily be applied to England as the two teams square up for the third and final test at Trent Bridge.

Muttiah Muralitharan and Kevin Pietersen have not only dominated the series but their enthralling head-to-head has also provided its focal point.

The Sri Lankan spinner has taken 13 of his team's 19 wickets in the first two games but Pietersen's 158 at Lord's and his 142 at Edgbaston have proved even more valuable, giving the home side a 1-0 lead before Friday's start.

The South Africa-born right-hander, as his captain Andrew Flintoff acknowledged, was the difference between the two sides at Edgbaston.

His unique batting style, made up of his huge reach and a tennis-style top-spin stroke to leg, was once considered more suited to one-dayers than tests but the critics have been dispatched as quickly as opposition bowlers. He has scored three hundreds in his last three home tests.

Muralitharan has quickly joined the ranks of his admirers.

''He's got everything in his armoury,'' he said, before comparing him to the likes of Brian Lara, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Sachin Tendulkar and adding: ''He's on top of the world.'' The 34-year-old Muralitharan, however, who is probably playing his last test in England, had the consolation of dismissing his tormentor cheaply in the second innings at Edgbaston to limit the size of England's six-wicket win.

PERSONAL BATTLE The pair's personal battle will again attract the most attention at Trent Bridge.

England, who look certain to be unchanged, already have much to celebrate.

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