Pollard Smith power Windies to victory

West Indies 275 (Smith 107, Pollard 94, O'Brien 4-71) beat Ireland 231 (Joyce 84, Wilson 61, Sammy 3-31, Benn 4-53) by 44 runs

West Indies opener Devon Smith made a maiden century but his effort was overshadowed by Kieron Pollard's blitz as he bludgeoned a limited Ireland attack all around Mohali to muscle his side to a tall total. Pollard's effort helped to quell the criticism over his lack of performances at the international level, and gave West Indies' their third win in four matches, putting them in prime position for a quarter-final spot.

A fluent Ed Joyce steered Ireland's sprightly reply but they lacked the spark needed to chase down the substantial score, though for the fourth match in a row they showed they aren't out of their depth against top teams. They kept fighting even when hopes of a victory were lost, reducing the margin of defeat to 44 runs and ensuring that their net run-rate didn't take too big a hit.

The decision to replace the injured Chris Gayle with bowling allrounder Andre Russell meant West Indies had a long tail, and no batsman of note below No. 5. That meant Ireland would have been the happier side when West Indies crawled to 142 for 3 by the 35th over. The batsmen gambled by taking the batting Powerplay then; a wicket at that stage could have scuppered the innings, but Ireland couldn't make the vital breakthrough and were helpless as the power of Pollard helped ransack 55 runs in five overs to shift the balance of the game.

Ireland had two opportunities to remove Pollard in the Powerplay: John Mooney narrowly missed a direct hit from square leg when Pollard had given up hope of making his ground in the 37th over, and Gary Wilson shelled a catch at long-on after hurtling across to get to a skier in the next over.

Over the next 45 minutes Pollard made them regret those misses with his now familiar brand of hitting, mainly muscling boundaries in the arc between long-on and midwicket. Boyd Rankin, Ireland's quickest, was brought in to handcuff Pollard, but his short ball was walloped to midwicket and an attempted yorker was pummeled down the ground. Rankin was rattled by the ferocity of the second hit, muttering to himself as his fractional mistake was punished.

A drive to midwicket in the 42nd over brought up Pollard's half-century off 35 balls - he celebrated by kissing an arm band bearing the injured allrounder Dwayne Bravo's number - but he was just warming up. The wickets tumbled at the other end, but there was no stopping Pollard, who capped a frenzy of hitting with 20 runs of an O'Brien over, which included a monstrous one-handed six that easily sailed over deep midwicket.

O'Brien had taken four wickets for the first time in his one-day career, but the Pollard assault ruined his figures. Pollard was also in line for the second quickest World Cup hundred -after O'Brien's epic against England last month - but fell attempting a six over long-off.

The pyrotechnics at the end made up for a dull start to the match in front of a nearly empty stadium when the West Indies openers treated the dibbly-dobbly attack with undue caution. There were only six fours in the first 15 overs on a track that, despite plenty of grass, afforded little movement for the seamers.

West Indies were dawdling at 3.5 runs per over when O'Brien struck in the 25th, getting Chanderpaul first, and Darren Bravo for a duck three balls later. Smith persevered and he stepped up his strike-rate in the Powerplay with a series of fours, reaching his hundred in the 39th over. It didn't thrill the watchers, but for a side which has only managed four centuries in their last 28 matches, it was an important innings.

Soon after, Kevin O'Brien struck twice in an over for the second time, though that didn't stop the runs. Puzzlingly, Ireland used their best bowler, left-arm spinner George Dockrell, for only three overs.

Ireland's chase got off to a terrible start as Paul Stirling's poor World Cup continued, dismissed in the second over. Joyce walked in and caressed his first two deliveries for four and Ireland sprinted to 35 for 0 in five, before Darren Sammy reeled off three maidens in a row and, combining with the pacy and accurate debutant Russell, created the pressure that led to William Porterfield's dismissal.

Joyce and Niall O'Brien steadied Ireland, adding 44 trouble-free runs before Niall played down the wrong line to Sulieman Benn. Joyce and Wilson then forged the biggest partnership of the innings to keep Ireland afloat, but just as Wilson picked up the pace with a huge six and two reverse-swept fours, Joyce was dismissed. Kevin O'Brien fell to a spectacular diving catch from Pollard and with that Ireland's hopes were washed away.

A controversial lbw decision by umpire Asoka de Silva, which wasn't reversed on referral, ended Wilson's stay in the 42nd over, but by then Ireland were hurtling towards their third defeat, and now need two wins to qualify for the next stage.

Tharanga & All round Dilshan helps in Victrory also takes Sri Lanka into quarterfinals

Sri Lanka 327 for 6 (Dilshan 144, Tharanga 133) beat Zimbabwe 188 (Taylor 80, Dilshan 4-4) by 139 runs

When Elton Chigumbura chose to bowl in Pallekele, to avoid his spinners having to struggle with a dew-soaked ball, little did he think his team would fail to take a wicket for 44.3 overs. But Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga batted forever, notching up the first double-century opening partnership in World Cup history, and their hundreds set up Sri Lanka's victory, officially securing their place in the quarter-finals.

The result was a foregone conclusion once Sri Lanka scored 327 but there was a flutter of hope in the Zimbabwe camp when Brendan Taylor was at the forefront of the pursuit. He combined orthodoxy and innovation during an aggressive half-century, taking advantage of a wayward Sri Lankan pace attack. The hosts gathered themselves, though, and struck twice at the other end after a century opening stand. Taylor eventually departed for 80 in the 25th over, and with him ended Zimbabwe's improbable chances.

The struggle of Zimbabwe's batsmen was in contrast to the ease with which Dilshan and Tharanga had entertained a packed house. They started at top speed, taking 84 of the first 11 overs by playing a shot a minute, and then shifted to a lower gear, bleeding Zimbabwe steadily and so easily through the middle overs. There were regular bursts of acceleration later in the innings and a concerted push during the final ten overs. At no stage were they bothered and rarely has a bowling performance looked so toothless - Chris Mpofu's shout after striking Tharanga's pad with the first ball of the game was the only appeal against the openers. Tired shots, rather than incisive bowling, brought about the dismissal of Tharanga and then Dilshan, and more middle-order wickets fell as batsmen came, swung and pushed the total beyond 300.

Tharanga threaded the fourth ball through point with a square drive and Sri Lanka were away. For the first time in the tournament Chigumbura did not use Ray Price with the brand new ball and gave the second over to Tinashe Panyangara. It was a costly decision as Dilshan ran amok, driving the full balls, and cutting and pulling the short ones to take 18 runs off the over.

There was no let-up in Sri Lanka's pace during the mandatory Powerplay, off which they scored 77. Dilshan and Tharanga slashed through point, pulled through square and then drove when the length was too full, punishing everyone who bowled at them. When Price was brought on in the fifth over, Dilshan skipped down and drove him inside out through cover.

Not until the 12th and 13th over was there spin from both ends and then Price bowled the innings' first maiden. The spin trio of Price, Prosper Utseya and Graeme Cremer began to exercise more control over the run-rate, which dipped below six for the first time in the 19th, but they failed to take a wicket. Tharanga and Dilshan seamlessly shifted to a lower gear and focused on accumulation.

Zimbabwe's spinners had conceded only 76 runs off 17 overs when Chigumbura gave pace another run by bringing himself on. Dilshan slapped a wide offering through cover to move to 99 and then reached his century off 95 balls, his first in World Cups. Panyangara returned and Tharanga immediately lofted over mid-off and pulled past fine leg. Sri Lanka took 30 off overs 31-33.

Tharanga and Dilshan broke Saeed Anwar and Wajahatullah Wasti's World Cup record of 184 for the first wicket and then became the first openers to score hundreds in the same World Cup innings. They reached 200 in 33.4 overs. During the batting Powerplay, taken in the 41st over, Tharanga's inside-out play through cover was exquisite. With the highest opening partnership in ODIs - 286 between Sanath Jayasuriya and Tharanga at Headingley 2006 - within striking distance, Tharanga holed out to deep cover, bringing Zimbabwe some relief. Dilshan followed in the next over, leaving the finishing touches to his well-rested team-mates.

As impressive as Sri Lanka's display was, Taylor played some of the best shots of the game. Using Malinga's pace, Taylor flicked a low full toss to the backward square-leg boundary, pushed a wide one through covers and chipped a short one over Kumar Sangakkara's head. There was only touch and timing in those shots, no power. Taylor got to his fifty off 39 balls and carried on batting aggressively.

Muttiah Muralitharan came on only in the 16th over, after the bowling Powerplay was completed, and in the 20th he spun a doosra on to Regis Chakabva's off stump, ending the opening stand on 116. Tatenda Taibu was bent on reverse-sweeping Murali whenever he could, and got away with it. He didn't get away with edging Angelo Mathew though, and Sangakkara dived to his right to take the catch inches off the ground.

Those two wickets set back Zimbabwe's chase considerably, and Taylor's dismissal was the definitive blow. On 80, he chipped a slower ball from Angelo Mathews straight to midwicket and the contest was over. Dilshan returned to torment Zimbabwe, picking up four batsmen - his finishing touches on a terrific game. And Murali, playing his final ODI in front of his home crowd, took the final wicket.

India at the top 5 wickets Victory over Netherland

India 191 for 5 (Yuvraj 51*, Seelaar 3-53) beat Netherlands 189 (Borren 38, Zaheer 3-20) by five wickets


Also Tendulkar be the first batsman to reach 2000 runs in World Cup......

India defeated Netherlands on a sluggish track at the Feroz Shah Kotla with more than 14 overs to spare though the margin of victory couldn't mask a lacklustre performance from the home side. The Indian bowling was just about tidy against some dour Netherlands batting, and their bunch of big hitters came unstuck for a while against the left-arm spin of Pieter Seelaar in a low-intensity match.

Chasing 190, India raced out of the blocks with Sachin Tendulkar becoming the first man to reach 2000 World Cup runs with a hat-trick of boundaries in the fifth over, and Virender Sehwag backing that with three more fours in the sixth. The flurry of hitting had the Delhi crowd buzzing, and when Sehwag carved Seelaar over extra cover for six and then dabbed him to third man for four, India were 69/0 in the eighth over and Netherlands looked set for a hiding.

Seelaar though ensured it wasn't another embarrassingly one-sided match, like many of those involving the Associates in this tournament. He had Sehwag slicing to point, and then dismissed both Tendulkar and the promoted power-hitter Yusuf Pathan in the 10th over to rein in India.

Virat Kohli didn't last too long before being bowled by Peter Borren, but Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh steadied the innings as Netherlands' limited bowling struggled to make more inroads. They added 40 trouble-free runs before Gambhir was bowled round his legs. It was left to Yuvraj and MS Dhoni, India's finishers over the past few years, to calmly steer India to victory with a 61-run stand, with Yuvraj getting his second half-century in a row.

India would have had a tougher test had it not been for a Netherlands middle-order collapse, which sandwiched a solid start and a flourish at the end. On choosing to bat, Eric Szwarczynski, playing his first match of the tournament, combined well with Wesley Barresi to put on 56, equalling Netherlands' best opening partnership in World Cups. There were only six boundaries in the first two Powerplays but aside from a couple of half-chances, it was easy going for Netherlands.

Piyush Chawla, surprisingly retained after a horror match against Ireland, finally got the breakthrough in the 16th over with his favourite weapon, the googly, which Szwarczynski read too late to be bowled. The next dismissal came from the most impressive bowler in the Ireland game, Yuvraj, whose wicket-to-wicket bowling got Barresi lbw.

Tom Cooper and Ryan ten Doeschate, two batsmen with career averages in the mid-60s, thwarted India for 10 overs, surviving two tough caught-and-bowled chances but dispatching the odd loose ball served up to put on 35. Netherlands were 99 for 2 after 29, not quite top gear but the platform was in place for some big hits later on. It wasn't to be though both batsmen were dismissed in successive overs to spark a collapse that cost them 5 for 28.

Bas Zuiderent had alerted the world to his talent with a half-century against England in 1996, but of the 16 innings he has played in World Cups since, 12 have been single-digit efforts. Today was another failure for the experienced batsman, done in by Zaheer's swing.

There were a couple of avoidable run-outs as well, but the dismissal that was most embarrassing for Netherlands was Alexei Kervesee's; he swiped a long hop from Chawla, expertly picking out Harbhajan Singh at deep midwicket.

The Netherlands captain, Peter Borren, had spoken of playing brave cricket before this game, and it was his adventurous hitting that lifted his side towards 200. He warmed up by lashing Yuvraj for a couple of powerful fours in the 42nd over, before taking the batting Powerplay and damaging Chalwa's figures with a couple of muscular hits over long-on. Mudassar Bukhari joined the fun, swinging two sixes over the leg side before both he and Borren were dismissed by Zaheer in the same over to wrap up the innings.

The win puts India top of the table, but they are through with their easy outings in the tournament, with only South Africa and West Indies remaining in the league phase before the knockouts.

Birthday boy Taylor blitz flattens shoddy Pakistan

New Zealand 302 for 7 (Taylor 131, Guptill 57) beat Pakistan 192 (Razzaq 62) by 110 runs

Ross Taylor celebrated his 27th birthday with a career-best unbeaten 131 to help New Zealand beat Pakistan by an emphatic 110-run margin at Pallekele stadium on Tuesday. 

Taylor benefited from two let-offs by wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal to guide New Zealand to an imposing 302-7 before Tim Southee (3-25) restricted Pakistan to 192 in the World Cup Group A match at the newly-built stadium. 

Pakistan lost wickets at regular intervals and suffered their second biggest World Cup defeat, leaving a packed 30,000 crowd disappointed. 

Scott Styris (2-17), Nathan McCullum (2-28) and Kyle Mills (2-43) also chipped in with useful bowling to halt Pakistan's unbeaten progress in the tournament. 

The win gave New Zealand -- six points from four matches -- top position in Group A on a better run-rate. 

Pakistan also have six points from four matches, followed by Sri Lanka (five from four) and Australia (five from three). 

Abdul Razzaq (62), Umar Akmal (38) and Umar Gul (34 not out) put up some resistance. 

But it was never threatening for New Zealand who didn't miss skipper Daniel Vettori, who was forced to leave the field after injuring his knee. 

Pakistan's worst World Cup defeat was by 112 runs, against England at Cape Town in 2003. 

Razzaq, when he reached 22, became the fourth player behind Sanath Jayasuriya, Shahid Afridi and Jacques Kallis to score 5000 runs and take 250 wickets in ODIs. 

But it was Taylor's day as he hit eight boundaries and seven sixes during his 124-ball knock, peaking in the final 10 overs in which New Zealand collected 139 runs -- 100 in last five. 

Taylor could have been out for nought, had Akmal not missed a regulation edge in paceman Shoaib Akhtar's second spell. 

He also dropped Taylor in the same Akhtar over when he had made just eight. 

Taylor made the most of his good fortune and ran riot in the 47th over of the innings, hitting Akhtar for two boundaries and three sixes -- 28 runs in all -- to reach his first World Cup hundred off 117 deliveries. 

He then hit two boundaries and three sixes to take 30 off Abdul Razzaq's 49th over. 

Taylor added a blistering 85 for the seventh wicket with Jacob Oram (25 off just nine balls, with three sixes and a boundary) off just 22 balls to punish a hapless Pakistan bowling attack. 

Taylor's previous best of 128 not out came against Sri Lanka at Napier in 2006. 

This was his first ODI hundred since his three-figure knock in Bangladesh in October 2008. 

Taylor added 57 for the third wicket with Martin Guptill (57) and 62 for the fifth wicket with Scott Styris (28). 

Pakistan, who opened the bowling with left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman -- the first time they opened with a spinner since April 1998 -- got dangerous Brendon McCullum in the first over, bowled by Akhtar for six.

Gul, the pick of Pakistan bowlers with 3-32, dismissed Jamie How (four) to make it 55-2, leaving the repair work to Taylor and Guptill. 

Akhtar conceded 70 in his nine overs, while Razzaq was clobbered for 49 in four. 

Pakistan next face Zimbabwe here on Monday, while New Zealand travel to Mumbai to face Canada (March 13) and Sri Lanka (March 18) in their last two matches. 

Pakistan wrap-up their group matches against defending champions Australia in Colombo on March 19. 

New Zealand Runs graph

Canada First win over on Kenya by 5 wickets

Canada 199 for 5 (Hansra 70, Bagai 64*) beat Kenya 198 (Mishra 51, Odoyo 51, Osinde 4-26) by five wickets

Canada won only their second World Cup match in four tournaments, beating Kenya in a low-profile, low-scoring scrap, and walked away from the Feroz Shah Kotlawith with bragging rights. Jimmy Hansra and Ashish Bagai put on 132 - Canada's fifth highest one-day partnership - to steer the chase on a slow subcontinent surface, in the fourth successive match in which a tough track was served up in a World Cup widely expected to be a runfest.

Quick bowler Henry Osinde was Canada's hero in the afternoon, as he ripped through the top order to leave Kenya gasping at 57 for 5 after 15 overs. Kenya, though, just about achieved their captain Jimmy Kamande's goal of playing out 50 overs; gutsy half-centuries from Tanmay Mishra and Thomas Odoyo acting as the bedrock of what was their best batting performance of the tournament.

Osinde was getting the ball to swerve a touch at the start, and that provided him with a wicket off the second delivery of the match, when Maurice Ouma was drawn towards the ball and edged it to slip as he belatedly tried to leave. Seren Waters, the promising opener, was next to go, playing down the wrong line to be bowled for 2. David Obuya became Osinde's third victim, nicking to the keeper as Kenya slid to 21 for 3.

There was more trouble for Kenya when a horrible swipe ended Collins Obuya's promising innings, and their most experienced player Steve Tikolo was adjudged lbw though replays suggested there was an inside-edge. Mishra and Kamande then put on the first of two reviving half-century stands. Just as the partnership started to gather momentum, legspinner Balaji Rao struck, getting Kamande caught behind for 22.

Mishra continued to grind it out, holding the innings together with a carefully constructed knock - 33 of his 51 runs were singles. His second significant stand was with Thomas Odoyo, who was far more aggressive, launching the ball through the off side or down the ground when it was pitched up.

The pair added 57 before Mishra perished in the 43rd over; Kenya missing a trick by not choosing the batting Powerplay when the two were together. That meant there was no big flourish at the death, and Kenya were bowled out on the final delivery by an inch-perfect yorker from Harvir Baidwan.

The chase began with the promoted Rizwan Cheema giving another short exhibition of his everything-must-go batting philosophy. He survived a first-ball lbw decision, and then whacked two fours and a six before he was bowled attempting yet another agricultural swipe. Kenya kept it tight after that on a pitch where the ball was keeping low, before the game sparked to life.

First, Zubin Surkari was run out by a direct hit from Kamande in the 10th over, then Ruvindu Gunasekara crunched a couple of driven boundaries, before he was reprieved by Nehemiah Odhiambo, who shelled a hard caught-and-bowled chance. Gunasekara didn't build on that, though, as two balls later he was bizarrely stumped, after beginning to take a run when the ball was in the keeper's gloves. The new batsman Hansra popped a dolly to mid-on off the second ball he faced, but that too was dropped, by Waters. In a match that was littered with poor fielding, this was the poorest miss, and it proved to be a pivotal one. Hansra celebrated the let-off with two boundaries in the over.

Things became sedate again after that phase, with Hansra and Bagai mainly taking the singles on a surface which was helping the spinners. Hansra brought out the big hit occasionally but Bagai was very subdued, striking only one boundary in his first 64 deliveries. Kenya started to flag as the partnership blossomed, and though there were some half-chances, Canada picked off the many freebies offered to stay firmly on course for victory.

Bagai started to open up as the target neared and though Hansra was dismissed with the win 19 away, Canada got their with plenty to spare to maintain their recent dominance of Kenya

All round yuvraj seals Victory over Ireland

India 210 for 5 (Yuvraj 50*) beat Ireland 207 (Porterfield 75, Yuvraj 5-31) by five wickets

Yuvraj Singh saved the blushes for India, allowing them to hide the ordinary effort from other spinners, by picking his maiden five-for to restrict Ireland to 207 before he hit an unbeaten fifty to settle India's nerves in a hard-fought win in Bangalore. Ireland enhanced their reputation by defending the target with disciplined bowling and excellent fielding and made India huff and puff to the victory line.

On a dry pitch, where the ball came on slowly, the Indian batsmen preferred to play within themselves and tried to play risk-free cricket but kept losing wickets at regular intervals to keep Ireland interested in the chase. India were 24 for 2 in the sixth over, reached 100 for four at the fall of Virat Kohli in the 24th over, and recovered to 167 for 5 when MS Dhoni exited in the 41st over before Yusuf Pathan flexed his muscles to hasten the end.

Ireland could have done far better had they not stumbled against Yuvraj's bowling. They were eyeing a 250-plus target after a 113-run third-wicket stand between William Porterfield and Niall O'Brien but a run-out opened a window for Yuvraj to trigger a collapse. The most significant moment of the innings came in the 27th over, with Ireland sitting pretty on 122 for 2, when a set Niall O'Brien couldn't make it in time to beat the throw from Virat Kohli in the covers. Dhoni did well to collect the slightly wayward throw and flick it onto the stumps. It was the beginning of the end.

As ever, Yuvraj ambled in like a Sunday-park bowler and as always proved to be street-smart. His art is very simple: he turns the ball slightly but his USP is the variation in pace, using a scrambled seam. He is usually slow and slower but surprises the batsmen with a quicker one. Today, too, he struck to his regular staple diet of slower ones; some were delivered with a round arm, some from higher straighter arm, and some with a crouched bent-knee release to get the ball to skid on.

If you just catch the highlights of his wickets, most would seem like soft dismissals. To an extent they were, but that's the illusion of nothingness he provides the batsmen, who then make seemingly silly mistakes. Andrew White was sucked into edging a flighted delivery to Dhoni, Kevin O'Brien tapped one softly back, Porterfield swatted a short ball straight to cover and John Mooney and Alex Cusack were trapped by skidders that came in with the arm. When White fell in the 30th over, Ireland were 129 for 4 and by the time Yuvraj got Cusack, Ireland had slid to 184 for 8 in the 44th over.

Until then, India were looking really ragged in the field. Only Zaheer Khan bowled well to take two early wickets and Porterfield and Niall O'Brien played risk-free cricket to lay a good platform. Their case was helped by some ordinary bowling from the spinners. Harbhajan Singh looked off-key, straying on to the pads once too often, Yusuf Pathan erred on length, often dragging them short, and Piyush Chawla hit the wrong lines.

None of that profligacy was seen in Ireland's bowling effort. Trent Johnston, who is the top wicket taker for Ireland, struck two vital blows early, getting Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir to ensure India wouldn't waltz to an easy win. Almost immediately, Porterfield brought in the teenaged left-arm spinner George Dockrell, who turned in a pleasing opening spell that read 4-0-14-0. He rarely gave anything to cut, always bowled slow through the air and was never afraid to flight. He had Kohli mistiming a few shots and made Tendulkar bat cautiously. Success came in his second spell, when he struck in his first delivery of the 21st over, trapping Tendulkar with a delivery that went past the attempted sweep. He could have got the wicket of Kohli, too, in his next over but Niall O'Brien, the keeper, couldn't hold on to an edge. Later, he trapped Dhoni lbw with a delivery that straightened on middle and leg to give a window of hope for Ireland but Yusuf Pathan shut it very quickly with two monstrous sixes in the same over.

Broad & Bopara seals England's six-run thriller

England staged a remarkable comeback to defeat South Africa in the Group B match at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, winning by just 6 runs. It was a low scoring game, but it was anything but dull, keeping the fans on the edge of their seats as it twisted and turned towards the final conclusion. South Africa had been on top all day, but Jimmy Anderson, for whom many pundits had called to be axed before the game, took the wickets of AB de Villiers and JP Duminy, with the run out of Francois du Plessis sandwiched in the middle to give England every chance of victory. The result continued to look like it could go either way, but with just 7 runs needed and just 2 wickets in hand Strauss recalled Stuart Broad to the attack. He proceeded to remove Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel to give England the victory in a thriller. 

There was a lot riding on this match, particularly for the English, who needed a win to boost their chances of progressing to the Quarter Finals after their shock loss to Ireland left them vulnerable. The South Africans were just as keen to continue their World Cup form, whilst there is always a little added incentive when they play England due to the bad blood with South African born Kevin Pietersen. 

England skipper Andrew Strauss won the toss and decided that his England side would bat first on a flat, grassless pitch, but a brave decision from South African captain Graeme Smith to open with the left arm orthodox spin of Robin Peterson proved to be a shrewd move. Peterson bowled beautifully for his captain, picking up both England openers with his very first over. He then removed Ian Bell, and England were reeling at 15 for 3. A good partnership of 99 gave England a chance of posting a decent score, but after both fell, Bopara making 60 and Trott continuing his good form with 52, England collapsed to be all out for 171. Peterson finished with 3 for 22 off 8 overs, Imran Tahir cleaned up the tail impressively to finish with 4 for 38 and Morne Morkel bowled tight in his seven overs to finish with 2 for 16. 

England's score didn't look like it was going to be enough as Smith and Hashim Amla added 63 for the first wicket for the South Africans, before Graeme Swann struck and had Smith caught behind for 22. Amla followed soon after for 42, Kallis was dismissed for 15, but de Villiers and du Plessis steadied the ship and South Africa were seemingly cruising at 124 for 3. 

That's when Strauss took a gamble of his own, and turned to Anderson. Anderson bowled the in-form de Villiers with a ball that only just grazed the top of off stump, and only Matt Prior realised that the ball had indeed hit the stumps. It took an umpires review to confirm that de Villiers was out, and in the next over some sharp fielding by Bell at short leg had du Plessis on his way back to the pavilion run out. Anderson appeared to have Duminy caught down the leg side in the next over, but despite replays appearing to back up the on-field decision, it was overturned and Duminy had a reprieve. Two balls later there was no doubt, as a beauty from Anderson shaped back into Duminy, sliding between bat and pad to bowl him. Three wickets in 11 balls without adding to the score had South Africa reeling. 

Strauss continued to pull the changes, and Michael Yardy struck again for England, having Robin Peterson caught by Prior, and the South Africa were now in big trouble at 127 for 6. Morne van Wyk and Steyn put on 33 and South Africa looked like they were going to win, but Bresnan came into the attack and van Wyk chopped a short ball from him onto the stumps with 12 runs left to get. 

Steyn assumed the senior role when Morne Morkel came to the crease, and they moved the score to 164. Again it looked like South Africa would get the runs, but Stuart Broad was brought back into the attack by Strauss and he trapped Steyn lbw with his first ball. Three balls later Morne Morkel played at a wide delivery and it found the edge, Prior took the catch and the English players were overjoyed. It was England's fourth close result from four matches this series, but after feeling they should have won their last two - the tie against India and the loss to Ireland - they will be glad to have finished on the right side of the ledger. 

One of the key messages out of the South African camp during this World Cup is that they aimed to remove the 'chokers' tag that they are often labelled with. A loss like this will only increase the scrutiny, and Smith will have to work hard to make sure that this result doesn't damage his players' confidence. 

England on the other hand will take a lot of confidence out of this game, and the two points for the victory make their passage through to the Quarter Finals a lot easier than it would have been had they lost this match. 

Strauss spoke of his relief after the match, saying "we (England) were down when we lost the Ireland game, but the guys stood up admirably. We were a lot more disciplined and we are delighted by the victory". Strauss also said that there were many things England needed to work on before their match against Bangladesh on Friday. 

Smith didn't look like a happy man after the game, but did say that that it "was a great game, but it is sad we wound up on the wrong side". He said South Africa would now turn their attention to their game against India next Saturday. 

Ravi Bopara, recalled to the England side for this match in place of Paul Collingwood, was given the Man of the Match award for his polished 62 after coming to the crease with the score at 15 for 3. His inclusion was crucial for England, and his innings under pressure proves that he is someone who can perform in the big games. 

Anyone who thinks One Day cricket is dead only needs to watch a match like this to see just how exciting it still can be. It was yet another thrilling match in a World Cup that has been full of quality cricket.