Pietersen's century is all in vain

SPORTS DIGEST:   Cricket -  Kevin Pietersen had mixed emotions after scoring his second one-day international century in eight…

SPORTS DIGEST: Cricket -  Kevin Pietersen had mixed emotions after scoring his second one-day international century in eight days as England lost by seven runs to South Africa in East London yesterday.

Chasing an improbable victory target of 312 the South African born batsman smashed a six off the last ball to finish 100 not out but unfortunately the match was already beyond England by that point.

The tourists now trail 3-1 in the series with two matches to play. "I'm not too happy. Personally it is fantastic but I'm not happy to miss it (victory) by eight runs," he said.

Fifth One Day International: South Africa 311-7 Innings Complete (G C Smith 115 no, J M Kemp 80) v England 304-8 Innings Complete (K P Pietersen 100 no, M P Vaughan 70). South Africa beat England by 7 runs.

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RUGBY: Warren Gatland yesterday confirmed his intention to leave Wasps at the end of the season and return home to New Zealand. The Wasps director of rugby - who has led the club to consecutive Zurich Premiership titles, the Heineken Cup and Parker Pen Challenge Cup in two seasons of unprecedented success - has asked to be released from the final year of his contract.

The club's board are likely to accept Gatland's request at a meeting on February 22nd, but supporters can be assured the former Ireland coach will remain determined to end his time with a hat-trick of Premiership titles.

"I've had a fantastic time at London Wasps, but there comes a time when one has to choose between job and family - and for once I've decided to put my family first," said Gatland.

Should Gatland's request be accepted by the board former Great Britain rugby league ace Shaun Edwards is the likely candidate to replace him.

AWARD: The Philips sports manager of the month for January has unsurprisingly gone to Tralee Tigers player-coach Chris Craig after he played a pivotal dual role in the Kerry clubs first national cup title.

The Tigers are currently top of the southern conference section of the Superleague but it was the performances over the final weekend of the month that clinched the award. They knocked out defending champions UCC demons on the Saturday before beating St Vincent's 90-81 in the final with Craig finishing with a personal tally of 22-points.

Aged just 23, Craig only arrived from El Paso College in Texas at the start of this season, bringing with him the equally influential Roy Smallwood.

RUGBY: A try at the start of the game and again at the end gave a Leinster Development XV a 17-13 win over their Munster counterparts at the end of an entertaining encounter at Clonmel RFC yesterday.

The home side led 13-10 thanks to a 70th minute Jeremy Manning penalty but replacement lock Alex Dunlop got on the end of a rolling maul to crash over the Munster line in stoppage time for the decisive try. And just for good measure, Eoghan Hickey, landed the difficult conversion from wide on the right.