England captain Kevin Pietersen stormed off the Kanpur ground in frustration today after his side lost out to India by 16 runs on the Duckworth/Lewis method.

With the light fading fast, umpires Amiesh Saheba and Russell Tiffin had no option but to take the teams off 40 overs into India's attempt to reach England's 240.

India were 198 for five at the time and the decision to end the game clearly angered Pietersen, who remonstrated with both officials while the towering Green Park floodlights remained unused. England are now 3-0 down in the seven-match series.

Pietersen soon cooled down but he was disappointed the remaining nine overs of India's innings could not be bowled. "It is frustrating. It would have been nice to get a full match in today but the weather dictated otherwise," he said.

"It was getting dark at 4.30. But the umpires made their decision and that's the way it is, so we come out on bottom again."

Despite suffering his third consecutive defeat, Pietersen still claimed there were 'positives' to be drawn.

He said: "The boys fought hard. When you play for England you play for the badge and you play hard - we had a real good go at it and showed real good character."

Pietersen now believes the key to overcoming India in the next match in Bangalore will be for one of England's top order to make a major contribution.

"It would be nice for one of our batters to get a big score," he said. "We have to score more hundreds to become more competitive."

All-rounder Andrew Flintoff admitted losing on the D/L method had been hard to swallow. He said: "We gave it our all, so to finish like that leaves a bitter taste in your mouth."