Left-arm fast bowler Reece Topley sparked a dramatic collapse as England dismissed South Africa for just 83 to register a 118-run win in the second ODI at Old Trafford on Friday to level the three-match series at 1-1.
South Africa, chasing 202 for victory in a match reduced by rain to 29 overs per side, were bowled out cheaply as England's left-arm seamers ruled the roost.
It was make or break in Manchester with Jos Buttler side's having lost five of their previous seven white-ball games and staring down the prospect of a third straight series defeat.
Defending 201 all out, England's seamers Reece Topley, David Willey and Sam Curran weaved their magic.
Topley, rested from England's 62-run defeat in the first ODI at Durham on Tuesday, removed Janneman Malan and Rassie van der Dussen for ducks just three days after they had scored a fifty and a hundred respectively.
Malan chipped to mid-on attempting to flick one off his pads and Van der Dussen feathered a thin edge through to wicketkeeper and captain Buttler.
Willey, like Topley a left-arm quick, had the dangerous Quinton de Kock chipping to cover. And South Africa were 6-4 when Aiden Markram was run out without facing a ball by Buttler.
Sam Curran, another left-armer, then bowled David Miller for 12 to leave the Proteas 27-5 inside nine overs.
And there was no way back from there for the Proteas against the 50-over world champions.
South Africa's hopes of chasing the target had effectively ended, but with light showers returning at the worst possible time, the hosts were soon dashing through their overs in a bid to complete the game.
That brought spinners Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali into the game and they mopped up the last five wickets to end things in the 21st over.
South Africa equalled their second-lowest completed ODI total, behind a 69 all out against Australia at Sydney in 1993.
"It feels great, it's great for us to get the win," said Buttler.
"The guys are bowling brilliantly. Topley coming back in and getting early wickets, Dave [Willey] doing the same."
With a host of seamers out injured, the left-arm bowlers of have been reliably impressive feature of England's hit-and-miss white-ball summer and the 32-year-old Willey is enjoying the responsibility.
"We definitely didn't expect to win by that margin but we knew we had to bowl well and field well. We put them under pressure and managed to keep our foot on their throat," he said.
"Reece and I have gone pretty well so far and it helps that we've played on some pitches that have been bowler friendly. We've both got a little bit out of the pitches, but you've got to put the ball in the right place to get the reward. We've done quite well and hopefully that can continue."
The visiting team have a lot of questions to answer ahead of the decider at Leeds on Sunday.
"I thought that it was a score that could be chased on that wicket," said South Africa captain Keshav Maharaj.
"We just didn't adapt well enough with the bat, there were a lot of soft wickets and when you lose four wickets in the powerplay it's hard to adapt."