Baddiel and Skinner's 1996 classic was played over and over again in pubs and gardens last summer as a plucky English football team made their way to the Semi-Finals of the World Cup. Of course, it's not like the English to get over excited by a single victory in a sporting tournament but when the cricket team wrapped up their win against South Africa yesterday a reworked version of Three Lions was played out at The Oval prompting memories of last year's carnival atmosphere during the football World Cup.

The support that England received in general during the game was incredible. The crowd seemed a little tense at first no doubt a result of England losing a wicket to the 2nd ball of the innings but they grew into the game as the home team began to get the scoreboard ticking over. Even with the loss of both set batsmen in Root and Roy, England captain Eoin Morgan was quick to go on the offensive and not allow his team to get sucked into a negative mindset that might have seen them drop short of a competitive total.

It's this kind of steely determination and overall batting strength that England will need over the course of this tournament as there will undoubtedly be times when things don't go all their way and they are required to think themselves out of a hole rather than just smash and hope. Thereafter, Ben Stokes continued his recent form with the bat in guiding England to what many felt was just about a par score on this surface.

Then it became the Jofra Archer show! On his first World Cup appearance, he destroyed South Africa's much vaunted top order. First smashing Hasim Amla in the helmet with a ball which was just too quick for a man with 124 Test caps and over 18,000 international runs to his name. Amla was meant to be the glue that held the South Africa innings together and you can imagine that the away dressing room were all shaken when he returned hurt from his brief encounter with Archer. Archer then knicked off Aiden Markram before inducing captain Faf Du Plessis into a hook shot that he guided straight to fine leg.

South Africa showed some resistance for the 3rd wicket but once Quinton De Kock was out the wheels really fell off and it became a question of when not if England would win. There was still time for Stokes to get back into things with a stunning one-handed catch on the boundary that already looks a very strong contender for catch of the tournament.

England go on to play Pakistan during the week knowing that another victory will only serve to further the cries of

Cricket's coming home........