Openers Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss put England on the road to success with a century stand but man of the moment Kevin Pietersen still occupied centre stage at the Brit Oval today after his team had put the finishing touches to a six-wicket win.

Chasing 197 to take the summer's final Test and launch the reign of new captain Pietersen on a positive note, England's nerves were soothed by a partnership of 123 between the two left-handers.

Cook eventually fell for 67 and Strauss - who compiled his first half-century in eight innings after being 'caught' off a no ball this morning when only four - followed for 58.

Those two dismissals, plus Ian Bell's failure, gave Pietersen the chance to be out in the middle at the moment of victory. But, with only 15 runs required, he fell to spinner Paul Harris, leaving Andrew Flintoff to finish matters with a straight six off the spinner.

It was Pietersen, though, who stepped forward to take the crowd's applause at the end of match presentation ceremony and England's 78th Test skipper can feel well satisfied with his first five days in charge.

Having already secured this fourmatch npower series with their wins at Headingley and Edgbaston, South Africa were happy enough tonight. But Pietersen's smile was widest of all.

Mind you, there are still plenty of people under scrutiny in England's top seven - starting with Strauss.

A duck here would have been highly detrimental to his hopes of making this December's Test series in India, and not done much for England's chances today for that matter. But he twice went close to being dislodged by Morne Morkel before clipping his 19th ball for four. Something similar almost brought his downfall, however.

South Africa captain Graeme Smith set the trap by posting Ashwell Prince at leg gully. Then, two balls later, Morkel baited it with a leg-side delivery which the lefthander glanced straight to Prince. If only Morkel had not overstepped the crease by an inch then the plan would have worked perfectly.

Cook's Test place is not in jeopardy. But his last hundred at the top level was scored against Sri Lanka 18 innings ago and two initially tentative batsmen meant that just 11 runs came from today's first 10 overs.

Yet crucially, if more by luck than judgement, no wickets fell during that tense period, and then the scoreboard started to tick over nicely.

Makhaya Ntini was off driven and pulled for boundaries by Cook, who followed up by working Morkel for another four to long leg. And, even more encouraging for England, Strauss followed suit with a straight drive back past Ntini to the delight of most members of a big last day crowd.

Last night's decision to charge adults just £15 for admission, and let youngsters in for half that amount, paid handsome dividends this morning with The Oval more than two thirds full.

What a majority of spectators wanted, of course, was an England victory. Getting past the new ball without loss made that outcome look all the more likely, and the introduction of spinner Harris meant Pietersen's team had reached their first milestone.

Cook, having been denied one boundary when he swept Harris straight against a heavily protected Hashim Amla at short leg, soon found the rope with a nicely timed clip through midwicket. Then Amla's throw at the stumps when trying to prevent a single gifted Strauss four overthrows.

All contributions were gratefully received, especially by Strauss. Cook needed no help, though, when he pulled fiery paceman Andre Nel into the wide open spaces for boundary No10 in an 83-ball half-century.

There were enough runs required after lunch for Cook to score that elusive first Test century of 2008. But after adding another couple of fours he drove at a delivery from Ntini that was angled across him to edge a straightforward catch to Smith at slip.

Job done, though? Not quite, especially once Bell and Strauss fell in the space of three balls with the total stuck on 147.

Bell was bowled by Ntini, then Strauss, have battled nearly three hours for 58, edged Harris onto pad and into Smith's hands at leg slip.

By then, though, Pietersen had arrived in the middle to rapturous applause. The script demanded that he should be on centre stage when the win was achieved, but an inside edge onto pad and straight to short leg ended that idea.

Despite this consolation win, there are still several questions for England's selectors to ask themselves after this series. Apart from Strauss, they must discuss the future of keeper Tim Ambrose (97 runs this series), decide whether Bell really is a long-term No3 and work out whether they see Andrew Flintoff as a batting or bowling all-rounder.

But at least Pietersen has begun his reign with a victory. And the encouraging return of bowler Steve Harmison will leave him thinking there should be more wins to celebrate over the next 12 months.