Kevin Pietersen claimed England's first century of the World Cup but was still unable to guide them to a major total in today's crunch Super Eight match against Australia.

The Hampshire batsman hit a superb 104 but could not prevent England being dismissed for a below-par 247 at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

His innings, which included a six and six fours, should have guided England to a challenging total and increased the prospect of inflicting the world champions' first defeat of their campaign but his efforts were not matched by the majority of his colleagues.

Hoping to bounce back quickly from Wednesday's heart-breaking two-run defeat by Sri Lanka, England were on course to record a significant score against the world champions while Ian Bell (77) and Pietersen forged a 140-run third-wicket stand.

But after setting the platform for a major assault in the latter stages of the innings, England lost momentum with Bell, Paul Collingwood and Andrew Flintoff all falling in the space of six overs.

The failure of the top order to fire so far in the World Cup persuaded the selectors to make a change at the top of the order by recalling Andrew Strauss after a two-month spell on the sidelines as a replacement for Middlesex team-mate Ed Joyce.

The switch was not successful, however, with England losing two wickets inside the first six overs despite captain Michael Vaughan winning the toss and deciding to bat first.

Vaughan continued his miserable run of form in the tournament by being dismissed for five by fast bowler Shaun Tait when he got an inside edge onto his stumps for five to take his tally to 12 runs in his last four innings.

Strauss, playing his first competitive match since the second final of the Commonwealth Bank series on February 11, fared little better and also chopped Tait onto his stumps for seven in his next over.

But after slumping to 24 for two, England were rescued by Bell and Pietersen's determined stand which should have enabled them to reach a far more challenging total.

Forced to play cautiously at first as they attempted to rebuild the innings, the pair opened out, targeting veteran seamer Glenn McGrath in particular to help England progress from 50 to 100 in only 35 balls.

McGrath's first over was hit for eight and with Bell coming down the wicket to hit three fours in his third over, McGrath had been hammered for 25 from his first 17 deliveries.

Pietersen, as ever, progressed at a quicker rate and reached his half-century off only 49 balls before being given the first of two reprieves.

Having just reached his 50, his sixth half-century in his last eight one-day internationals, Pietersen attempted to drive an attempted slower ball full-toss through extra cover only for Australian captain Ricky Ponting to put him down diving full length at mid-wicket.

The Hampshire batsman was given another life on 63 when he miscued an attempted pull off Tait which looped towards Matthew Hayden at mid-off, but one of the safest hands in world cricket dropped the regulation chance.

At that stage England must have thought luck was smiling on them only for fortunes to reverse in the next over when a full-blooded Pietersen pull off McGrath was prevented going for four when it hit umpire Rudi Koertzen at square leg and England had to settle for a single.

The significance of that was only felt from the next delivery when Bell, who had progressed to 77 off 90 balls, drove McGrath on the up and picked out Mike Hussey at extra cover.

His dismissal was followed six balls later by Tait claiming his third wicket of the innings when Collingwood chased a wide delivery and edged behind.

Just five overs later, Andrew Flintoff's struggles with the bat continued when he came down the wicket to Brad Hogg and was beaten in the flight, allowing Gilchrist to complete a simple stumping.

But the loss of those three wickets for only 15 runs seemed to steel Pietersen's determination and with Ravi Bopara providing useful support during a 51-run stand, he was able to claim his first one-day international century for 32 matches.

Pietersen finally fell with eight balls of the innings remaining, driving Nathan Bracken down to Michael Clark at long on, as England were restricted to 51 runs in the final 10 overs.