4th Match: England Vs. South Africa - - Owais Shah, Eoin Morgan And Paul Collingwood Lead England To Set A Tough Total to South Africa

England 323 for 8 (Shah 98, Collingwood 82, Morgan 67) v South Africa

Owais Shah produced a breathtakingly audacious 98 from 89 balls, and Eoin Morgan provided a full-blooded finale by belting 67 from just 34 balls, as England gave themselves every opportunity to qualify for the Champions Trophy semi-finals by posting a hefty 323 for 8 in their 50 overs against South Africa. Aside from their 328 against a supine West Indies at Edgbaston in May, it was England's highest ODI total since December 2005, and the second highest by any side in Champions Trophy history. Who says they can't produce their best when it matters?

With one shock victory to their name already in this tournament, England's confidence was plain to see throughout a performance in which their only moment of discomfort came when both openers, Joe Denly and Andrew Strauss, fell in the space of 14 balls to squander a flying start against some wayward new-ball offerings from Dale Steyn and Wayne Parnell. During the recent 6-1 drubbing against Australia, England had lacked the will or the ability to regroup in such situations, but since relocating to the Southern Hemisphere, they have been an outfit rejuvenated.

Not even the pre-match loss of the wicketkeeper, Matt Prior, could upset England's equilibrium. He was ruled out with illness shortly before the toss, with Morgan set to deputise behind the stumps, and whereas a similar scenario in the fourth Ashes Test at Headingley had been the prelude to an England meltdown, on this occasion, Strauss took the upheaval in his stride. He duly won his eighth toss in his last nine ODIs, and drove his second legitimate delivery, from Steyn, down the ground for four to signal England's collective intent.

At the other end, Denly clipped his first ball of the match, from Parnell, all the way to the square-leg rope, and in all, South Africa's bowlers leaked eight boundaries in the first nine overs as they failed to find their line. Jacques Kallis, struggling with a side strain, eventually prised the breakthrough when Denly chased a long-hop to JP Duminy at deep square-leg, before Strauss attempted to glide Parnell through third man only for Mark Boucher behind the stumps to intercept the shot with a spectacular one-handed leap. At 59 for 2, the innings was in the balance. But not, as it happens, for very long.

Throughout a fraught campaign against Australia, Shah's main failing appeared to be a severe lack of confidence. However, a slow but steady 44 in the victory over Sri Lanka provided him with the tonic that he so desperately needed, and he showed that there was nothing wrong with his actual form as early as his eighth delivery, when he latched onto Albie Morkel's second delivery, and hoisted it over square leg for six. Strauss's subsequent departure persuaded him to throttle back thereafter as he and Paul Collingwood negotiated a tidy spell of spin from Roelof van der Merwe and Johan Botha, although neither man was shy of cashing in when the opportunity arose - something that had not been remotely the case during their stodgy middle overs against Australia.

After 29 overs, England were handily paced on 146 for 2, but the acceleration, when it came, was dramatic. Collingwood signalled the charge by pulling van der Merwe over midwicket for six, where his shot landed on the head of a sunbathing blonde, whereupon Shah, who had just brought up his half-century from a measured 63 deliveries, crashed 45 runs from his last 31 balls, including five sixes in the space of 13 deliveries.

Five of those were carted over midwicket, and one, from van der Merwe, was lofted over long-off, and such was his dominance, it did not matter who was bowling. Steyn returned to add some extra spice to the attack, but Shah blasted his first ball high over the leg-side before smashing his second through midwicket for four, and with 13 overs of the innings still to come, there seemed no way on earth that Shah would not record his second ODI century, and England's first since Strauss's losing effort in Guyana in March.

But Steyn produced a superb over to Collingwood, that included five dot-balls and a last-ball single, and by the time Shah regained the strike, his momentum was lost. He attempted a cute dink into the leg-side off Botha, but the ball ballooned unluckily off his pad-flap, and into the hands of Boucher, to bring to an end a third-wicket stand of 163. But Morgan picked up where his team-mate had left off, reverse-lapping van der Merwe through third man for four before larruping Botha back over his head for a massive six. England called for the Powerplay in the 42nd over, and though Parnell did for Collingwood with a slower ball, Morgan was picking every variation as the innings drew to a close, cracking four fours and five sixes in total, in an innings that rivalled some of Kevin Pietersen's more audacious onslaughts.

England's lower-order couldn't quite live with the cleanliness of Morgan's strokeplay. Luke Wright was cruelly run out for 8 when a Morgan drive deflected off Parnell's boot and into the stumps, Ravi Bopara survived one delivery before swirling a leading edge towards Morkel in the covers, while Stuart Broad was yorked second-ball by Parnell for a duck. With five balls left in the innings, Morgan drilled Steyn to a tumbling Graeme Smith at extra cover to depart to a richly deserved standing ovation. With Pakistan already through to the semi-finals, England have a superb opportunity to join them.