Pietersen's reputation has grown in the sub-continent

Kevin Pietersen made his third century since arriving in India as England A reached 241-4 at tea in their Duleep Trophy game against South Zone.

The Nottinghamshire batsman hit 104 and shared a fourth wicket stand of 143 with Sussex's Matt Prior.

England A made a stuttering start in Gurgaon after the home side won the toss, losing Scott Newman, Michael Lumb and Ed Smith during the morning.

Pietersen was caugth off the final ball before tea, leaving Prior on 63.

The tourists went into the game with their strongest possible line-up as Lancashire paceman Sajid Mahmood returned to action after being rested for the four-day game against a Tamil Nadu XI.

Can Pietersen prove to have that elusive ability to convert starts into big scores for England? From W Rhodes Have your say on TMS

Newman and Smith launched their innings solidly, taking the score to 50 before Newman was run out for 31.

Lumb did not last long before he was caught off former Test player Sunil Joshi for one and Smith followed with the total on 98 when he was bowled by Narender Singh for 27.

England A were 99-3 at lunch but dominated the afternoon session as Pietersen and Prior adopted positive tactics to combat the spinners.

South Zone: S Ramesh (capt), I Khaleel (wkt), Y Venugopal Rao, S B Joshi, S Sriram, N P Singh, B M Rowland, S Sharath, R Ramkumar, S Santh, S Badrinath.