Years after his acrimonious departure from international cricket, Kevin Pietersen finally received a fitting farewell after he propelled the Melbourne Stars to a thrilling win in his BBL swansong.
The 37-year-old set up a three-wicket win over the Hobart Hurricanes at the MCG on Saturday night with his 46 runs from just 23 balls, including six fours and two sixes.
Pietersen, accustomed to being loudly booed by Australian crowds during his England career, received a standing ovation from the 19,671 fans in attendance as he departed the MCG for the last time.
Fans young and old clambered for the one-time villain's signature as he lingered along the boundary fence long after the game had finished.
"That's the fun part ... I didn't have that farewell with England - that was rather messy," Pietersen said.
"So to have that here in Australia ... if anybody had said that four years ago what would (people) have said? No chance.
"But I believe anything can happen ... you can turn things around. People are human, we all make mistakes.
"But I've loved the turnaround."
Pietersen, who leaves the Stars second on their all-time run-scorers' list (Luke Wright is first), stood behind his decision to retire even after scoring two player-of-the-match awards following his announcement.
He is confident he would have received another contract from the Stars if he had shown interest in playing on, but said such a move would have been a blatant money grab.
He will instead move into the next phase of his life, with his work in rhinoceros conservation and cricket commentary to play a large part, happy in the knowledge that his last innings for the Stars was one to remember.
"When I walked out to bat, I thought 'there's an opportunity here to do something pretty cool'," he said.
"What Australia and the Stars ... what this four years has meant to me is a hell of a lot.
"And to finish the way we did here - to get a win and to get some runs - it's absolutely incredible.
"It was my last time out there and I went out there with a free spirit, but that's the way I've played my whole career."
KEVIN PIETERSEN'S MELBOURNE STARS CAREER AT A GLANCE:
* Games: 33
* Runs: 1110
* Strike rate: 137.20
* Average: 37.00
* High score: 76
* 50s: 10
