Strauss: We can rise challenge

Andrew Strauss is confident England can enjoy the freedom of knowing the simple equation for World Cup success and begin to make their mark on the tournament.

England are yet to deliver a performance which suggests they could be possible challengers, but now they are in a situation where they know what is required - four successive wins will win them the World Cup for the first time, and Strauss believes they can respond to the challenge.

"When we take to the field against South Africa we'll be four victories away from winning the World Cup, and that's what we've got to look towards," said Strauss, a veteran of 76 one-day internationals.

"We can almost play with a bit more freedom in those games because we're in that situation and it's quite an exciting time - it's the business end of the World Cup and this is what we play for.

"If we're going to win those games we have to play with a bit more freedom and we have to back our ability and technique and go out and take these guys on.

"We recognise that because if you play with too much fear it's very unhelpful and we're going to stay away from playing like that and go out and enjoy it."