It may have come at a cost but this was an emphatic way for England to take a huge step towards the World Cup semi-finals with a complete dismantling of a woeful West Indies.
First they had the pace and variations – and the unexpected bonus of Joe Root popping up at a crucial time with two wickets - to brush West Indies aside for a paltry 212.
Then, effectively two batsmen down following injuries to Jason Roy and Eoin Morgan, they only need four of their remaining nine as Root rose to the challenge of becoming England's emergency opener by strolling to an unbeaten 100.
Joe Root celebrates his 16th ODI ton and his second of the World Cup to lead England home
Joe Root hits into the leg side after being promoted to open the innings for England
Root pulls through midwicket as he guides England to a comfortable victory over West Indies
Chris Woakes hooks into the air after being promoted to No 3 due to an injury to Eoin Morgan
Jonny Bairstow falls to the ground after an Andre Russell bouncer struck him on the helmet
Chris Gayle takes the ironic applause of the crowd after getting down low to field the ball
Make no mistake, this was a pivotal match for an England team who could not have afforded a second defeat in their first four matches and still lived up to expectations as firm World Cup favourites. Lose this and England faced a real dog-fight.
Instead they know, after this thumping eight-wicket win sealed with fully 101 balls to spare, that victories over Afghanistan and Sri Lanka next week – and let's hope the Manchester and Leeds weather plays ball – will see them almost in the last four.
It is fortunate they are facing the two weakest teams in the tournament next, too, because the cost for England came with a worrying injury scare over Roy and a lesser one for a captain in Morgan who was in the wars in Southampton for a second time.
This game, with the rain mercifully staying away, was not even eight overs old when Roy pulled up in the field with a recurrence of the hamstring injury that kept him out for seven weeks when he first suffered it in the Caribbean earlier this year.
The last thing England need is to lose the destructive Roy now, particularly as the ideal stand-in in Alex Hales is indisposed, and England will keep him in the squad in the hope the 'tightness' in his left hamstring heals before the business end of this tournament.
If anything Morgan, who fractured a finger ahead of the World Cup warm-up game against Australia here, looked in more distress than Roy when he pulled up towards the end of West Indies innings but the good news was the captain had suffered only a back spasm.
Jofra Archer celebrates the wicket of Carlos Braithwaite as he takes three for 30 with the ball
