MORE than seven million cricket fans watched England's Ashes triumph - giving Channel 4 its best ever day.

The audience peaked at 7.4 million during the closing minutes of the match between 6pm and 6.15pm on Monday.

More than half of all TV viewers were tuned in at 4pm to see Kevin Pietersen reach his spectacular century.

The viewing figures made Channel 4 the most watched channel of the day for the first time in its history. The previous record for Channel 4 was in July 2002 for the Big Brother 3 final.

The Ashes marked the end of Channel 4's cricket coverage. Sky has bought the rights to broadcast the Tests until 2009.