Strauss thrilled with outstanding bowlers

Andersons performance eased concerns over his troublesome knee which has required strapping during the early weeks of the tour and he is confident it wont be a further problem. If its getting better while Im playing Im pretty confident it will just continue to do so, he said. Its not a concern at all once Ive started bowling.

The key was to start well and it was a good toss to lose if Im honest. But I was pleased with how the bowlers reacted to the conditions, Strauss said. You have got to adapt quickly and make sure that if theres anything in your favour then you use it. I think we did that today.

That is precisely what his counterpart Graeme Smith stressed. Calling on his young team to learn to adapt to conditions better,Smith said: Weve got a lot of young guys in key decision-making areas,and they need to learn quickly and grow with the responsibility thats been put on their shoulders,to move the team forward.

In the absence of the injured Jacques Kallis,South Africa have an inexperienced middle-order,which was blown away by the pace attack led by Anderson. It was a hugely disappointing performance today. Not so much at the outcome of the match,although its always terrible to lose,but its the fact that we didnt assess conditions well enough and post a total that would have been defendable.

The only South African specialist batsman to stick around was their most inexperienced,Alviro Petersen,who made a battling half-century before becoming the last man out.

One-twenty just wasnt enough. If we could have posted something over 200,then we would have been in with a chance, Smith said. These guys have got the ability – its just about getting their decision-making up to scratch.

England lead the five-match ODI series 2-1,and South Africa get their chance to level it when they meet in Durban on Friday.