Pietersen awarded damages over 'bat tampering' advert

England batsman Kevin Pietersen has reportedly been awarded libel damages over an advertisement which had suggested that he had tampered with his bat during this year's summer Ashes series against Australia.

The ad, for global optician chain Specsavers, showed a picture of Pietersen along with a statement saying ''Bat tampering in the Ashes? Apparently Hot Spot should've gone to Specsavers''.

According to Sport24, Pietersen's solicitor told London's High Court that the ad had appeared on the company's Twitter and Facebook pages, as well as in several newspapers and magazines, following which the company apologised and accepted that Pietersen had not behaved in the manner suggested.

The report mentioned that the company, which had already removed the advert from circulation, also agreed to pay substantial damages to Pietersen and cover his legal costs.

Pietersen was accused by an Australian television channel of using silicone tape during the series to prevent the Hot Spot decision-review technology from detecting when he had hit the ball, but he denied the allegations, the report added.