Shah carved a beautiful 98, smashing six sixes along the way to help England amass 323 from their 50 overs. And a spectacular finish from Irish born Eoin Morgan, who blasted 67 off just 34 deliveries, provided England with the firepower down the order that they have been lacking in recent times.
A brave century by Proteas skipper Graeme Smith (141) kept South Africa in the hunt throughout the game but in the end it was not enough as the tournament hosts fell short by 22 runs.
James Anderson was the pick of the English bowlers, returning figures of 3-32. And the result means Smith's side crash out of the tournament, despite being tagged favourites.
The match itself began with news filtering through Matt Prior had been ruled out of the game with a viral infection. That however didn’t stop England’s openers getting off to a flying start. Andrew Strauss and Joe Denly put on 59 for the first wicket before both batsmen fell in the space of 14 balls.
The Middlesex man was well supported by Paul Collingwood (82) and the pair put on 163 for the third wicket, with Roelof Van der Merwe the most expensive of the South African bowlers with 67 runs taken of his ten overs.
Shah fell two short of his second ODI century in unfortunate circumstances, with the ball spooning up in the air of his pad offering Mark Boucher a simple catch.
With the score on 223-3, Morgan entered the fold producing an astonishing attack clearing the boundary on more than five occasions. His short stint at the crease propelled England into a strong position going into the break.
South Africa started the innings positively racing to 37 after just six overs. Herschelle Gibbs then mistimed a pull shot which ballooned in the air, straight to Luke Wright.
And when Jacques Kallis was dismissed for just 13, Smith continued in the same vein along with AB deVilliers who compiled a steady 35 before being caught off Denly. Boucher was then undone by a ball that kept low and with Albie Morkel at the crease, the run rate climbed above nine runs an over.
In the powerplay overs, Morkel found his timing and struck some powerful blows to give his side hope. But when he was run out by Morgan, the odds seemed stacked against them.
Smith’s valiant innings of 141 was finally brought to an end after attempting to hit a boundary off the bowling of Stuart Broad, which signalled the end of South Africa’s hopes.
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