Needing to defeat South Africa to progress beyond the Super Eight stage, the Indians came up with a combative performance, both with the bat and in the field, to crush the Proteas by 37 runs and top Group E. Consequently, India will play Australia in Saturday's second semifinal here, while New Zealand will run into Pakistan, also on the same day, in Cape Town. South Africa knocked themselves out of contention despite beginning the day the most well placed of all Group E teams, embracing the tag of chokers with great relish all over again.

India rode on man of the match Rohit Sharma's maiden half-century and his 85-run (55b) knock with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni to reach a competitive 153 for five upon being put in. Paceman Rudra Pratap Singh then led the bowlers' charge, finishing with four for 13 as South Africa floundered to 116 for nine, and out of their own party.

India made a cracking start with the ball, RP Singh getting rid of both Herschelle Gibbs and Graeme Smith in his first over. The South African captain fell to a screaming overhead catch to his left at second slip by Dinesh Kaarthick, after which the Tamil Nadu lad replaced Dhoni behind the stumps.

S Sreesanth trapped AB de Villiers in front, and Rohit conjured a piece of magic running in from cover to hit the stumps direct at the striker's end and run dangerman Justin Kemp out. When RP Singh knocked Shaun Pollock over first ball with a wonderful inswinger from round the stumps, the Proteas were in deep strife in front of a packed, entranced audience, having slipped to 31 for five.

First target
South Africa's first target was to reach 126 to avoid elimination, and Mark Boucher and Albie Morkel's first goal was to achieve that figure. Their task was made doubly difficult by an exceptional performance by the Indians, both with the ball and in the field. All of India's bowlers were on the money, forcing the Proteas to abandon hopes of victory and merely make the last four. In the end, even that proved beyond them.

India got off to the worst possible start to the match when Wednesday's hero, Yuvraj Singh, was ruled out with tendonitis in his left elbow. To compound matters, Shaun Pollock tied Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir up in knots. After beginning the tournament poorly, the veteran has made up for lack of pace with clever variations and movement off the track that has brooked careful watching.

After a circumspect start, Gambhir charged Pollock and found mid-off. Kaarthick followed in the same over and Sehwag fell one delivery later, steering Makhaya Ntini for Mark Boucher to snaffle a sharp catch. India had lost three for one in four deliveries, and looked to have shot themselves in the foot.

Out walked Rohit into the cauldron, and to a hostile reception from Morne Morkel. In his first international hit, the Mumbaikar looked ill at ease early on, struggling to cope with the lift and inward movement the tall paceman generated as he hit the deck hard. Robin Uthappa shepherded him through that uncertain phase in recovery act number one, the two young guns adding 28 crucial runs, even if not at a frenetic pace.

Uthappa's fall, caught smartly by Smith at mid-off as he lashed out at Morne, ushered Dhoni out into the middle. The skipper had to dig himself in and marshall the rest of the innings, as well as carry Rohit along with him. This was no time for dashing heroics but for a cool head and plenty of smart batsmanship. Dhoni was able to impress upon Rohit as well the need to keep battling away, and while it wasn't pretty batting, it sure was in keeping with the need of the hour.

Rohit played far too many dot balls, but in between, he also showed glimpses of rare class, while Dhoni was industrious more than explosive. Dhoni fell right at the end; Rohit crowned his gutsy stint with a last-ball six that took him to fifty, an innings of great composure and massive massive value.

Score board

INDIA
Gambhir c Smith b Pollock 19
(19b, 3x4)
Sehwag c Boucher b Ntini 11
(11b, 1x4)
Kaarthick c A Morkel b Pollock 0
(1b)
Uthappa c Smith b M Morkel 15
(16b, 1x4, 1x6)
R Sharma (not out) 50
(40b, 7x4, 2x6)
Dhoni (run out) 45
(33b, 4x4, 1x6)
Pathan (not out) 0
(0b)
Extras (B-2, LB-2, W-8, NB-1) 13
Total (for 5 wkts, 20 overs) 153
Fall of wickets: 1-32 (Gambhir), 2-33 (Kaarthick), 3-33 (Sehwag), 4-61 (Uthappa), 5-146 (Dhoni).
Bowling: Pollock 4-0-17-2, Makhaya Ntini 4-0-30-1 (w-2), Van der Wath 4-0-43-0, M Morkel 4-0-32-1 (nb-1), Philander 2-0-14-0 (w-6), A Morkel 2-0-13-0.
Scoring pattern: 5 overs: 33/2; 10: 57/3; 15: 97/4; end of innings: 153/5 in 20 overs.
Runs during Power Play: 1-6 overs: 34/3.

SOUTH AFRICA
Gibbs lbw RP Singh 1
(3b)
Smith c Kaarthick b RP Singh 4
(6b, 1x4)
De Villiers lbw Sreesanth 1
(4b)
Kemp (run out) 5
(12b, 1x4)
Boucher b Sreesanth 36
(31b, 4x4)
Pollock b RP Singh 0
(1b)
A Morkel b RP Singh 36
(37b, 2x4, 1x6)
Philander st K’thick b H’hajan 2
(5b)
Wath st K’hick b H’hajan 2
(6b)
M Morkel (not out) 1
(3b)
Ntini (not out) 5
(2b, 1x4)
Extras (LB-8, W-15) 23
Total (for 9 wkts, 20 overs) 116
Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Gibbs),  2-12 (Smith), 3-12 (De Villiers), 4-30 (Kemp), 5-31 (Pollock), 6-100 (Boucher), 7-103 (Philander), 8-109 (A Morkel), 9-111 (Van der Wath).

Bowling: Sreesanth 4-0-23-2 (w-10), Rudra Pratap  Singh 4-0-13-4 (w-3), Joginder Sharma 4-0-24-0 (w-1), Irfan Pathan 4-0-16-0 (w-1), Harbhajan Singh 4-0-32-2.

Scoring pattern: 5 overs: 23/3; 10: 48/5; 15: 92/5; end of innings: 116/9 in 20 overs.
Runs during Power Play: 1-6 overs: 31/5.