England captain Eoin Morgan scores century supported by big-hitting Moeen Ali as South Africa are beaten by 72 runs in ODI at Headingley

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England could not have asked for a better start to a spell of one-day cricket they hope will end in Champions Trophy glory as they earned an emphatic victory over South Africa on Wednesday night with captain Eoin Morgan to the fore.

Morgan's 11th one-day century and a late blast from Moeen Ali propelled England to 339 for six after they had been asked to bat in this first of three Royal London matches against the top-ranked 50-over side.

And it proved too stiff a task for South Africa, who lost wickets far too regularly in their pursuit of a realistic target on a flat Headingley pitch, and struggled against the pace of Chris Woakes and the spin of Moeen and Adil Rashid. 

Eoin Morgan led from the front for England and top scored with 107 at Headingley

Morgan's late partnership with Moeen Ali ensured England finished with a competitive 339-6

Moeen also proved his worth with the ball in hand, taking two wickets to stall South Africa

The only worry for England was an injury scare to the hugely important Ben Stokes, who was able to bowl just two overs before leaving the field with a sore left knee.

He was to return and England are confident he is fine, but they will always hold their breath when their talisman appears hurt.

England prefer to chase, with almost any total deemed gettable, but showed they can also dictate when batting first, smashing 12 sixes between them compared to just two maximums from South Africa.

Five of England's sixes came from captain Morgan, who has hit his best form at just the right time as England go in pursuit of their long overdue first global fifty-over title.

'That was a pretty complete performance,' said Morgan. 'It's the best way we could have started this series and it was a very good day at the office.'

There was a time last winter when Morgan, who refused to lead his side in Bangladesh because of security concerns, was under pressure. But he has responded in style. This was his third one-day century in eight innings, after he had gone 24 knocks without one, and Morgan will go into the Champions Trophy at the top of his form. 

Morgan's century will encourage England fans ahead of the Champions Trophy next week

Morgan had a 100 partnership with Ali, who made his personal half century off 35 balls

Alli's powerful hitting justified his inclusion ahead of Yorkshire favourite Jonny Bairstow

England suffered an early setback when opener Jason Roy was out for one in the second over

Alex Hales scored 61 as England recovered from Roy's loss before a brief mid-order slump

Moeen's all round performance made him the hero of the day for England at Headingley

'I've felt good against India, Ireland and in the Big Bash,' said Morgan. 'I haven't been through a stage before when I've been able to keep it up like this, so I hope it continues.'

He was needed here, too, because after Alex Hales had laid a platform, England were in danger of falling well short of their recent high standards when Stokes and Jos Buttler marked their returns to the side with soft dismissals.

England are keen to big up the benefits of players going to the Indian Premier League, but it makes demands on them, too, and there was perhaps a touch of weariness about the way Stokes and Buttler gave their wickets away.

When Buttler turned Chris Morris to leg gully, England were wobbling on 198 for five, but they recovered to the highest ODI score here with a partnership of 117 off 13.3 overs between Morgan and Moeen.

There had been suggestions Moeen might lose his place to Jonny Bairstow, but here he showed what an important all-rounder he is. 

Hashim Amla showed his quality after the dismissal of Quinton de Kock to accumulate runs

Amla and Faf du Plessis got a response going but both went in a few balls of each other

However Mark Wood caught Amla LBW, before Liam Plunkett bagged Du Plessis 

AB de Villiers added 45 for South Africa but he was eventually caught in the deep

David Miller was the fifth man out, caught near the boundary by all-rounder Ben Stokes

While Morgan was sublime in hitting 107, going to three figures by pulling Kagiso Rabada into the stands, Moeen was more dominant still with an unbeaten 77 off 51 balls.

Moeen was particularly punishing on the world's No 1 ranked one-day bowler, taking Imran Tahir for three of his five sixes in an over that cost 22 and following the example of his colleagues in being able to pick the leg-spinner's googly.

England will also be pleased with how they played the exciting Rabada, who struggled coming down the hill at the Kirkstall Lane End.

South Africa, unbeaten in their last seven one-day series, showed a propensity for giving it away too as JP Duminy and David Miller followed Stokes in finding the man on the midwicket boundary.

The dangerous Quinton de Kock had earlier hit Woakes straight up in the air to be taken by an outstanding running catch from Buttler, before Hashim Amla fell on review to Mark Wood after a mistake by umpire Rod Tucker.

While there was AB de Villiers there was hope for South Africa, but after showing his quality with two superlative boundaries off a Woakes over, he too gave it away as Moeen grabbed the man-of-the- match award with two wickets to add to his decisive batting.

That left South Africa too much to do, the reliable Woakes finishing with four for 38 as they fell 72 runs short, and England will head to Southampton on Saturday with confidence growing.

Despite the quality of the South African chase, some fans found other forms of entertainment

Flags were flown at half mast around Headingley in respect to the Manchester terror victims

A minute's silence was also impeccably observed by players and supporters of both teams