VIKRAM Solanki emerged out of a crisis of confidence to fire England's young side to an emphatic NatWest Series final victory over South Africa at Lord's.

The Worcestershire batsman hit a quickfire half-century off only 58 deliveries to help England to a seven-wickets victory to lift the trophy in front of a sell-out Lord's crowd with 29.4 overs to spare after they had dismissed South Africa for a lowly 107.

Their triumph, which follows victory in the NatWest Challenge against Pakistan, completes an impressive first summer for captain Michael Vaughan and his youthful squad, giving them a lift in their long-term planning for the 2007 World Cup in West Indies.

England's victory also lifts them to third place in the new International Cricket Council's one-day rankings.

It also vindicated the selectors' decision to blood players like Jim Troughton, Kabir Ali, Anthony McGrath and Richard Johnson and look to the future rather than recall more experienced players who are unlikely to feature at the next World Cup.

Perhaps Solanki, above all, has epitomised the improvement having been recalled after a three-year absence and suffering more than his share of mixed fortunes as England's new opener alongside Marcus Trescothick.

He has dazzled on occasions, particularly during his brilliant century against South Africa at The Oval a fortnight ago, but he has suffered four consecutive single figure scores since.

Faced with a last chance to impress this summer, Solanki hammered England towards victory by dominating an 87-run partnership with Vaughan.

He brought up his second half-century for England by launching Jacques Kallis for a six and a four off successive deliveries.

Solanki eventually chopped a ball from County team-mate Andrew Hall onto his stumps just three overs and 19 runs away from victory.

While most of the emphasis has been on younger players, old-timer Darren Gough set the tone earlier when he bowled a superb opening spell of 7-2-9-2 which earned him the man of the match award.