Middle-order trio Owais Shah, Paul Collingwood and Eoin Morgan formed the backbone of England's successful pursuit of 213 runs for victory in their Champions Trophy Group B clash against Sri Lanka at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Friday.

Forced to employ a deal of circumspection in the wake of Andrew Strauss (nine) and Joe Denly's (five) failure to fire at the top of the order, Shah - picked ahead of Ravi Bopara - and Collingwood - back in the fold after a brief ODI sabbatical - gradually found the initial groove on a tricky Wanderers track.

With openers Denly and Strauss sent packing thanks to a cracking one-handed catch by Thilina Kandamby at midwicket and Nuwan Kulasekara's growing lbw collection respectively, the middle-order duo added 63 for the third wicket before a severe lack of foot work saw Man of the Match Collingwood chop onto his stumps for 46. The slingshot fast bowler was understandably overjoyed, having fetched two massive sixes over midwicket courtesy the Durham star earlier in his spell.

With Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis in the ineffective middle stages of their tandem salvo, anchor Shah and aggressor Eoin Morgan resumed the methodical pursuit, carrying England to 158 for three with a critics-answering 76-run stand.

Muralitharan's belated removal of Shah, caught behind for 44, offered little hope to Sri Lanka, as Morgan (62 not out) and Matt Prior (28 not out) ensured England's comfortable six-wicket win with five overs to spare, leaving the triumphant duo to punch the air in joyous unison as their unbeaten 55-run vigil snubbed the 7,400-strong - predominantly pro-Sri Lanka - crowd.

Earlier Stuart Broad and Strauss collectively undid all the good work done by James Anderson and Graham Onions.

Reduced to 17 for four after being stuck into bat, the Sri Lankans recovered to 212 all out in 47.3 overs thanks to an errant bowling change and Broad's inability to maintain the early pressure enforced by his fellow fast bowlers.

Onions claimed the key wickets of Sanath Jayasuriya for a duck and Kumar Sangakkara for one from the Corlett Drive End, where he generated potent seam movement, before skipper Strauss inexplicably hauled him out of the attack four overs into a cracking spell that deserved at least two more overs.

While Anderson, who earlier cashed in on Tillakaratne Dilshan (two) and Mahela Jayawardene's (nine) eagerness to get out flashing outside the off-stump, continued at the Golf Course End, Broad replaced Onions and relinquished the pressure straight away.

Thilan Samaraweera stroked back-to-back boundaries to kick off the fightback, assuring the removal of the third slip and forcing Strauss to hit a premature panic button. The resulting action was a breather for Anderson and the return of Onions, this time from the Golf Course End.

With the right man bowling at the wrong end and Broad fetching ongoing stick amidst a slew of leg-side wides on the other side, Samaraweera and Thilina Kandamby were left to milk England's shameful slip in momentum with a 64-run stand for the fifth wicket.

23-year-old Broad, to a degree, made up for his initial pitfalls with the wicket of Samaraweera (30), whose lavish slash through the off-side was held at backward point by Paul Collingwood.

While Strauss questionably opted to hold Anderson and Onions back for the latter overs instead of going for the kill and spinner Graeme Swann was ignored under overcast skies, the ineffective seam duo of Luke Wright and Paul Collingwood went through the middle-over motions against Kandamby and Angelo Mathews.

The eventual introduction of Swann, who didn't spin it and managed little bounce, did nothing more than aid Kandamby and Mathews' rearguard approach.

The talented twosome employed some wristy shot selection and, accompanied by the growing wides tally and the odd bit of sad fielding, racked up their half-century stand in 58 deliveries.

Left-hander Kandamby enjoyed a prolific Compaq Cup in Colombo recently and picked up where he left off with the fourth half-ton of his brief but flourshing ODI career, and it took a mid-pitch mix-up between him and sidekick Mathews to end their stand of 82.

22-year-old Mathews too went on to register his half-century before a peculiar run-out and due piece of generosity from Strauss allowed the Sri Lankan star to carry on batting, briefly.

Nudging one to midwicket and calling for the scampered second, Mathews collided with bowler Onions and watched in horror as the return throw allowed wicketkeeper Matt Prior to whip off the bails with the batsman well short of his ground.

Mathews' demonstration and eventual mope back to the pavilion was cut short as he returned to the crease thanks to Strauss' decision to withdraw the dismissal. Many wil question the England captain's move, but in the cutthroat world of cricket, such a sporting gesture is entirely refreshing.

The half-centurion didn't stick around long thereafter though, with Wright nabbing a scalp caught-behind down the leg-side the very next over.

Obliged by Strauss' spill on the square-leg fence, the ever industrious Muralitharan wielded his way through the batting Powerplay for all of 18 runs - off nine balls - before Broad cartwheeled his off-stump in specatcular fashion, and did the same to first-ball quacker Lasith Malinga's off-pole a minute later.

What Muralitharan started Kulasekara (17 not out) finished, spanking Broad over point for six before last man in Mendis (five) spooned a catch to first slip.

Jonhenry Wilson in Johannesburg