SAfrica thrash Pakistan by 124 runs, storm into semis

Mohali, Oct 27: Makhaya Ntini busted open Pakistan with a dream figures of five for 21 and along with C Langeveldt and Shaun Pollack powered South Africa into the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy after a crushing 124-run win over their Group B rivals with 25 overs to spare here tonight.

Graeme Smith won the toss and elected to bat but South Africa seemed in distress by managing just 213 for eight in 50 overs, although the Proteas recovered from a precarious 42 for five in 12.5 overs.

Chasing a target of 214 for a spot in the last-four stage of this biennial event, Pakistan's top-order fell to a deadly cocktail of superb seam bowling and amazingly poor shot selection by their top order as they were folded up for 89 in 25 overs.

Ably supporting Ntini was Langveldt, who took three for 20 and old warhorse Shaun Pollack, who scalped two for 22.

South Africa now head for Jaipur for semi-finals as they have topped their pool, while Pakistan pack bags and fly back.

Not helping matters was the pitch -- seen at its greenest for many a year here at Mohali-but there is no getting away from the fact that hara-kiri was a disease that swept through the Pakistan dressing room the moment wickets began to fall.

And fall they did, like nine-pins.

Ntini and Shaun Pollock scythed through the top-order in much the same manner they had done against Sri Lanka at Ahmedabad three days ago and it was no consolation to Younis Khan that his men too had had South Africa on the ropes, but lacked the firepower to finish them off.

The Proteas came out red-hot on a pitch better suited to Perth or Durban than India. Difficult to distinguish from the rest of the square, it was evident almost straight away that the pitch would be a stern test of batting technique.

South Africa were to recover from 5/42 thanks to Mark Boucher and Justin Kemp. For Pakistan, there were to be no saviours on the day.

Openers Mohammad Hafeez and Imran Farhat fell in the second and fourth overs -- the former forced to play at a delivery that flew into Smith's hands in the slips and Farhat essaying an awful half-shot to sky the ball into Pollock's hands at third man. In-form Mohammad Yousuf broke Ntini's sequence when Pollock jagged the ball back into him from a good length and the skipper continued the sorry procession when he mishit a pull and skied the ball for Langeveldt at mid-on.

Four down for 21 and the curtains had started to drop, falling further when Shoaib Malik was brilliantly collected down leg side by Mark Boucher off another Ntini flier.

The 29-year-old from Cape Town was now on the rampage and picked off his fifth wicket in short order when he trapped Kamran Akmal with a ball that came in sharply.

Ntini at one staged looked set to improve upon his carrier best of 6 for 22 which he had against Australia in Cape town early this year but Afridi took 13 runs off his sixth over to prevent the African from setting another record.

Down five for 21 in just 7.4 overs, the other half of Pakistani bating line up added 68 runs in 17.4 overs before be bundled out for their fifth lowest score in ODIs.

Earlier a crucial 131-run sixth-wicket stand between Mark Boucher and Justin Kemp rescued South Africa and helped them post a challenging 213 for eight in 50 overs.

Coming at a stage when South Africans were gasping for breath having been reduced for 42 for five, Boucher and Kemp not only saved their side blues but also put them back into the game.

Their partnership, the highest against Pakistan, came when the Proteas needed it most. The two not only added runs but stayed put at the crease for 32.1 overs to give respectability to the innings.

When Boucher finally got out for 69, the South African score was reading a healthy 173 runs in 44 overs. Boucher faced 98 balls and hit seven boundaries to score his highest score against Pakistan.

Justin Kemp contributed invaluable 64 (110 balls, 2x6, 4x4) as 40 runs were added in last six overs.

Graeme Smith decision to bat after winning the toss came as a big surprise keeping in view the lush green pitch.

The Pakistani bowlers especially Umar Gul and Rao Iftikhar made good use of the conditions on the green track with their superbly controlled pace.

The Pakistanis were off to a dream start, with Umar Gul scalping two wickets ioff first three balls of his first over.

He trapped Smith off his second ball and had dangerous Herschelle Gibbs caught in the slips by Shoaib Malik off his next ball to leave the South Africans reeling at two wickets down for one run.

Rao Ifthikhar struck the third blow for Pakistan when he had opener Dippenaar (13) caught by wicket keeper Kamran Akmal with the scoreboard reading was 27 for three in 9.3 overs.

The South Africans were rattled again when dependable Jacques Kallis fell fiddling with an outside the off stump delivery only to be caught brilliantly by Akmal behind the stumps. Kallis made just 17 runs off 25 balls hitting two boundaries.

With Abraham DeVillers undone by Yasir Arafat, the Africans lost their half the batting strength. Just when it looked that South Africa will find it hard cross even the 100-run mark, seasoned campaigners Mark Boucher alsong with Kemp restored sanity in the middle.

The two battled cautiously and with determination in first 20 overs in which South Africans made only 69 runs.

For Pakistan Ifthikhar scalped two for 26 in 10 overs while Omar Gul was claimed three for 36.

UNI