England restore pride and World Cup ambitions as Broad and Swann bowl them to dramatic victory

His side pulled off a thrilling victory in yesterday’s Group B match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium to banish the memory of their Irish defeat just days earlier.

South Africa appeared to be coasting towards a routine target of 172, on 63-0 and then 124-3 – only to lose four wickets for three runs on an awkward spinners’ pitch.

Then after an eighth-wicket stand of 33 between Dale Steyn and Morne van Wyk tilted an intriguing contest in previously unbeaten South Africa’s favour again, Yorkshire’s Tim Bresnan intervened – and Stuart Broad (4-15) took the last two wickets in four balls.

Strauss fell for a duck in the first over along with fellow opener Kevin Pietersen (3) in what was a terrible opening to the match.

However, reflecting on the victory – and its effect on England’s tournament – Strauss said: “The guys showed a lot of fight and we had to respond well in the second innings.

“This puts us back on track in the World Cup and it couldn’t come a day too soon for us to be honest.

“(Graeme) Swann was outstanding early on and the seamers banged out a length consistently, which is what you have to do on a wicket like this.

“It was a cliff-hanger of a game – we’re certainly keeping people interested at the moment.

“We’re delighted with the win and we have high hopes of achieving a great thing.

“We still need to learn some lessons but we got away with a win and a win is all you need to kickstart things and get it going.”

England bowler Swann revealed how the team did not give up hope of beating the South Africans despite being bowled out for 171.

Swann said: “We didn’t think 170 was as competitive as it should have been but it’s proved to be that so we’re delighted.

“We knew there was life in the pitch for us. We knew how difficult it was to score when we batted, particularly at the end (of the innings).

“It just goes to show if you believe you can win in any game you can, as Ireland proved last week and so did we (yesterday).

“It’s just nice that we’ve played a game and no one’s got a hundred against us. We have had a bit of a rollercoaster World Cup so far,” Swann added.

South Africa captain Graeme Smith called on his players to move on quickly from defeat.

He added: “It was a good game and unfortunately we ended up on the wrong side of it.

“We did well for most of the game but we knew chasing would be very difficult and it proved to be.

“We’ve got a week to prepare for India and there are a couple of things to improve on.

“The competition moves on.”

Meanwhile, England batsman Pietersen will undergo hernia surgery after the World Cup.

The England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed over the weekend that Pietersen will have an operation on the problem, which was discovered after the recent one-day series in Australia.

Pietersen will continue to play in the ongoing tournament on the sub-continent before having surgery afterwards.

He is still expected to take his place in the line-up for the rest of this tournament, starting on Friday with England’s next match in Group B against co-hosts Bangladesh in Chittagong.

Victory over the side which was bowled out for just 58 by the West Indies last week will go a long way to ensuring England’s place in the knock-out stages of the competition.