Broad helps England to thrilling victory

Stuart Broad took 10 wickets in England's two World Cup warm-up matches but made a slow start to the tournament proper after being struck down by illness. He was very wayward in the shock defeat to Ireland last week, but bounced back in perfect style with a match-winning 4 for 15 to secure a memorable fightback against South Africa in Chennai.

His four scalps were split across two crucial phases of the game. Firstly he broke through the South Africa top order then returned to claim the final two wickets in four balls after Dale Steyn had pushed his team close to the winning mark.

Unlike in his previous appearances at the World Cup, Broad found the perfect length in his first spell and struck to it around off stump. Hashim Amla had moved along serenely despite the testing surface until he became a little lazy against Broad and chopped into his stumps. Jacques Kallis then edged a drive and, in a rare sight, accepted Matt Prior's word on whether it had carried without asking for the umpires to check which left South Africa on 82 for 3. They were still in control, but England had a chance.

After four overs Broad took a lengthy break from the attack as Andrew Strauss opted for extensive use if spin and then used the reverse skills of James Anderson. But when his captain came calling again, with the match going down to the wire, Broad was ready to respond. Firstly he produced two tight overs to keep the pressure on Morne van Wyk and Steyn, then gave the match its thrilling finish.

The first ball of his third spell was right on target and caught Steyn plumb in front although the batsman tried to save himself with the DRS. Imran Tahir then carved his first ball through midwicket and he didn't get back on strike again. Broad went round the wicket to the left-handed Morkel who was in no mood to push his way to victory and a flat-footed drive sent a thin, low edge through to Prior to spark England's scenes of celebrations. They had served up another World Cup classic.