Portraying himself as the man for the tough occasion, Kevin Pietersen sounded more like Clint Eastwood riding into a lawless town than a batsman walking to the wicket as he reflected on the slowest of his 12 Test hundreds. He placed his innings in the context of his recent century in Napier, where England slipped to 36 for four before winning the decisive third Test, and his career-defining 158 in the 2005 Ashes at the Brit Oval.

This time England teetered on 86 for five after another first-innings collapse that incorporated the loss of three wickets in successive overs after lunch. “We were staring down the barrel,” Pietersen said. “Those are the kind of tough times when I look to stand up for England.

“Nothing fazes me and I have scored several hundreds now when England have been down in the dumps. Those positions are a good judge of character and I thrive on that. The ball did enough all day with seam and swing. The only thing that helped us was the slow pitch, because that allowed us to adjust our strokes.”

Although restrained in comparison with some of his more flamboyant efforts, Pietersen suggested that he is moving steadily towards his best, with characteristic whips through mid-wicket beginning to resemble his signature “flamingo” shot. He blamed his “wandering hands” for losing his shape at times during the winter but felt that he was playing closer to his body yesterday.

He also defended Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood, whose poor form continued with a duck apiece. The pair lasted a total of seven balls between them but Pietersen said: “During the tea-break I saw on television a list of the leading run-scorers in county cricket this season. Not one of them can touch Bell or Collingwood. We all have good days and bad days.”

Pietersen is among the members of the England one-day squad cleared to play for their counties in the first round of Twenty20 Cup fixtures on Wednesday. He will line up for Hampshire against Middlesex at the Rose Bowl, two days before England face New Zealand in the same format at Old Trafford.