England v South Africa ODI series

Kevin Pietersen said England were intent on completing a 5-0 series whitewash after thrashing South Africa in the third one-dayer at The Oval.

Andrew Flintoff hit an unbeaten 78 and Samit Patel took 5-41 as England eased to a 126-run win for a 3-0 series lead.

"We've come in as underdogs and have hit our straps in every single department," said captain Pietersen.

"The blokes have done an amazing job but we want to improve and want to try to win the series 5-0 if we can."

England are now chasing only the second one-day series cleansweep in their history after they triumphed over Zimbabwe by the same margin in 2001-02.

Pietersen said: "We need to carry on and keep going. The 5-0 thing puts a lot more extra pressure on us as it would take us up to second in the world rankings.

"That is the kind of pressure we want - pressure is a privilege and if we win 5-0 it takes us right up to the top."

Pietersen picked out the fielding and the performance of the three fast bowlers Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Flintoff following the emphatic triumph at The Oval, which came after a 10-wicket win on Tuesday and a 20-run success last week.

Courtesy http://news.bbc.co.uk