They did so largely because their bowlers had a good night out, not just with the ball, either, but a couple of them with the bat, too, and because their fielding was as sharp as one would hope from a team with aspirations to win the World Cup.
It must be said that Australia gave them a leg-up with a pretty feeble batting effort but last night it was the bowlers who started the rot, Alan Mullally most especially, after Mark Waugh and Adam Gilchrist had got the Australians off to a flier.
We know that Australia do not chase a target so well as they defend one - we had this much confirmed again in Melbourne - and a seething Shane Warne, captaining Australia for the night in the absence of the still injured Steve Waugh, could barely contain his displeasure after the game.
The target of 179 had been reduced to a ``modest'', Warne said, 153 from 36 overs after a couple of hours of infuriating drizzle which delayed the start of the Australian innings until 7.25pm.
Judging by the way the impressive Mark Waugh climbed into some ordinary fare from Darren Gough, there was a suspicion that the thing could be done and dusted by 8.25pm. Not so, not in the eye of Mullally, whose skilful spell of eight consecutive overs yielded four wickets for only 18 runs. He has threatened to take Waugh's wicket all summer but not quite managed to do so. Now he found revenge of a sort in a fast inswinger which clipped the inside edge of Waugh's previously sweet-sounding bat.
It was during this passage of play that England effectively won the match as the Australians, comfortably placed at 46 for one after seven overs and four balls, lost four further wickets for two runs in next to no time.
Mullally, who remember was not named in England's initial party of 38 cricketers to watch for the World Cup, bowled wonderfully well, rather as he does for Leicestershire, in fact, by finding the right length, hitting the seam and making the batsman play.
Gilchrist and Damien Martyn were undone by jaffas and Ricky Ponting undid himself with yet another indiscreet stroke. Mullally found ideal support from Mark Ealham who lured Greg Blewett into his first real mistake against England since the tour began and from the fielders whose commitment was epitomised by Mark Alleyne's athletic run-out of Warne.
This thrilling moment was a piece of poetic justice for Alleyne who, along with Vince Wells, was chuffed to be wearing England's colours for the first time.
Near the start of the Australian innings, Alleyne had chased a chip-shot towards the midwicket boundary, lost his footing and embarrassingly sprawled and slithered across the wet outfield as three or four attempts to grab the gently rolling ball failed hopelessly. It was farce, the crowd loved it and would not let Alleyne forget it until, with Australia stealing their way back into the game at 117 for six, he threw himself to his left, stopped Warne's on-drive and, while still on the ground, transferred the ball from left hand to right before throwing down the stumps at the bowler's end.
Perhaps it was destined to be England's night. After all, how often these days does Gough make a relevant contribution with the bat. His 23 from 24 balls in a ninth- wicket partnership of 42 with Robert Croft, another who had a decent evening, gave England something to bowl at after they had threatened nothing.
On what appeared to be a typical Brisbane pitch, Alec Stewart had won the toss at last, punched the air, chosen to bat and promptly missed the first ball he received, which was quite straight enough to trap him in front of all three. Wells played all round another straight one and Adam Dale's medium-pacers were suddenly creating the sort of new-ball havoc usually associated with Dennis Lillee. Australian bowled very straight - Glen McGrath was outstanding -and specifically a little back of a good length on a pitch which offered more movement than expected and quite enough to encourage the bowlers.
The two left-handers, Nick Knight and Neil Fairbrother, dropped anchor, as another, Michael Bevan, was to do later but none could up the tempo and take the match by its throat. As if to illustrate that batting was tricky Fairbrother, such a crafty accumulator, had only three singles to show for the first 32 balls that he faced. Bevan, a master of the boundary, could not find one to save himself or, for that matter, to save Australia.
Bevan was there when 13 were needed from the last over but his magic wand was elsewhere, in its box perhaps for the next occasion. Gough came back to exercise the gremlins of his hugely expensive first three overs and to ensure that England play Sri Lanka today brimful with confidence.