Kevin Pietersen has challenged England to continue improving after rain foiled their bid to claim a NatWest Series whitewash over South Africa and secure second place in the world rankings.

Victory at Cardiff's SWALEC Stadium on Wednesday would have propelled England above their opponents to leave them as Australia's leading challengers for the coveted title as the world's best one-day side.

"All the guys are just hungry for success," said Pietersen. "There are a lot of players who know they have settled for a comfort zone in certain areas, but I don't live with any comfort zones."

He added: "I don't settle for mediocrity; I want guys to perform, to chuck their talent around and to be the best people they can possibly be - there's no point living if you don't want to be the best person you can possibly be."

Instead, England were forced to settle for a 4-0 victory, after rain restricted play to just three overs, and third place in the world rankings - still a considerable improvement on the seventh place they started from at the beginning of the series.

Pietersen freely admits he now wants England to follow Australia's example by continually pressing for improvement - starting with this winter's tour to India, when they face a gruelling seven-match series spanning 19 days.

"If we keep ourselves fit and keep ourselves on the park then this team can go from strength to strength," he said. "The key for us now is to build on what we've done and keep trying to get better.

"I watched an interview with (Australia captain) Ricky Ponting during the last World Cup and he was asked how easy or hard it was to captain Australia.

"He said it was easy because every side wakes up looking to get better and better each day. If our mentality can be if we wake up every single morning trying to get better then I think it's a recipe for success."