Rain denies England a 5-0 one-day whitewash
England captain Kevin Pietersen warned his side against complacency ahead of the winter tour to India despite leading his side to a comprehensive series victory over South Africa.
Pietersen’s side were denied a 5-0 series whitewash over the Proteas when heavy rain wiped out their fifth and final one-day international at Cardiff yesterday.
The no result meant that England missed out on the chance to complete their first-ever one-day whitewash over a major Test-playing nation, and also prevented them from leapfrogging South Africa to second in the world rankings.
Pietersen has enjoyed a Test victory and four straight one-day successes in his short spell as skipper, but warned his resurgent side there is a lot more work to do come the winter.
“You make sure you enjoy the times like these because it’ll be tough in India,” the Hampshire batsman said.
“I don’t settle for mediocrity. I want guys to perform, to chuck their talent around and be the best people they can possibly be.”
“There’s no point living if you don’t want to be the best you can be.”
Pietersen’s hopes of a 5-0 series win looked doomed when rain forced a number of inspections and, eventually, a 43-over contest.
Play eventually got underway just before 5pm with England winning the toss and opting to bowl.
Indeed, they got off to the perfect start when Stuart Broad struck in he second over, forcing Herschelle Gibbs to produce a stunning one-handed catch from Matt Prior in the second over of the day
But the persistent rain had the last laugh as the players went off after just three overs bowled, and never came back, with South Africa at 6-1.