Pietersen ruled out of opening match

Kevin Pietersen was ruled out of England's opening ICC World Twenty20 match against Netherlands with a recurrence of the Achilles injury that forced him to miss the one-day series against West Indies.

After appearing in both warm-ups against Scotland and West Indies he experienced further pain on Friday and the decision was taken to assess the injury ahead of the game against Pakistan on Sunday. The ECB said he will have scans and an injection before a decision is taken on his future participation.

"Kevin had been making excellent progress with the management of his right Achilles injury and had shown substantial improvement," said the England chief medical officer Nick Peirce. "However today he has experienced a degree of pain which medical assessments have suggested may be related to some aggravation from his lower back.

"In order to continue maximising his recovery for the remainder of the tournament and the summer ahead, he will undergo a scan and an injection today to help determine any contribution from his lower back and to provide both short term and long term benefit.

"Provided this injection has the expected result Kevin may well be available for selection for England's match against Pakistan on Sunday. He will continue to be assessed and receive treatment over the next 48 hours before a decision is made on his availability for Sunday's match."

After missing the three one-dayers against West Indies Pietersen said he was making good progress in his recovery and that the only element he had to be careful with was his street-running. He looked in good form during the practice games as he hit an unbeaten 53 against Scotland to see England home.

Although the England management will be keen to ensure Pietersen can play a part in the tournament they will be able to replace him if the injury proves too serious. They have already had to replace Andrew Flintoff from the original squad with Adil Rashid coming into the party.