The various pieces of England's one-day jigsaw have slotted into place seamlessly over the last couple of weeks against South Africa. Kevin Pietersen's desire to have Steve Harmison back in the attack, Andrew Flintoff at No. 5 and Samit Patel as the spin-bowling allrounder has worked like a dream. The only plan that hadn't quite come off, at least until Sunday at Lord's, was Owais Shah's promotion to No.3.

Flintoff added that Shah had the talent to make the most of his promotion to No. 3. The pair played together in age-group cricket for England and, at 29, it was now time for Shah to push for a lengthy international career. Unlike Flintoff and Pietersen, Shah will be back on county duty after the final ODI against South Africa, at Cardiff, on Wednesday after being one of the players released for the remainder of the season. It will be a chance for Shah to end the season in good form before looking ahead to the Stanford Super Series and a tour of India.