ENGLAND captain Michael Vaughan hailed the remarkable impact Hampshire batsman Kevin Pietersen has had on his squad.

Pietersen blazed his way into the England limited-overs international record books last night with a 69-ball ton in the seven-run loss to South Africa in East London - his second undefeated century in eight days.

Pietersen did not walk to the crease until the 27th over but still managed to get to an unbeaten 100 from the last ball of the match - a full toss from Andre Nel which he dispatched over the rope at deep mid-wicket for his fourth six.

His celebration might have been slightly more muted than for his previous century at Bloemfontein last week but it was a more worthy innings given the situation.

Pietersencombined raw muscle with clever placement.

Starved of the strike at crucial periods once past a half-century which occupied just 38 balls, the Hampshire man did get support from a dogged lower order.

He was dropped from the first ball of the final over, which resulted in the third run-out of the innings, that of Kabir Ali.

In truth, he should have been dismissed when he was on 16 as Mark Boucher missed a straightforward stumping off Nicky Boje.

Taking advantage of that let-off, he produced some lusty blows from the moment the required rate reached 10 per over in the 34th.

Twice he blasted spinner Boje for six and carried on in the same manner despite losing Vaughan, who chipped straight to midwicket with less than 13 overs to go and 133 required.

"I do not feel sorry for Kevin," said Vaughan, whose 70 laid the foundations.

"I feel sorry for the team that we did not get over the winning hurdle because he played a great knock.

"After the way we played in Cape Town at the weekend we knew there was no point in losing early wickets and being out of the game.

"We knew on a small ground like this we could get within hitting range which would allow the lower order to free themselves up and we came close to winning the game.

"'Kevin is a very special player with composure and a good attitude.

"I like the fact he is quite cocky.

"He can certainly bat and when you get him together with Andrew Flintoff in the middle order we will have a lot of hitting power."

Vaughan believes England can still level the one-day series despite losing their third straight match in yesterday's floodlit match at Buffalo Park.

Thanks to Pietersen, England got close to what would have been the eighth highest successful one-day international chase in history.

Having lost the toss, Vaughan's men failed to take early wickets and were then slaughtered by a Justin Kemp-inspired South Africa as 111 runs came from the final 10 overs.

All-rounder Kemp blasted 80, from only 50 deliveries, including seven sixes, to shape the rain-delayed contest.

Despite the momentum favouring the home side, however, Vaughan insisted: "We have pushed them really hard in four of the first five games and I believe we can turn it around and force a 3-3.

"If we can exert some pressure they could fold like any team in the world.

"We made a decent fist of a large total here and to get within hitting range was a great effort by the batters.

"But we allowed them to score too many, if you do not get wickets you are going to come into the final 15 overs and face a barrage.

"The bowling is an area we definitely need to address."