de Villiers fifty takes South Africa to 130

On a pitch where the ball turned sharply, India's slow bowlers strangulated South Africa's impressive batting line-up after a frenetic start, and but for a wonderful hand of 63 from AB de Villiers, the already-eliminated Indians would have been left to chase a miniscule target. None of the other batsmen looked remotely at ease once the pace was taken off the ball, and India's pace bowlers were left to watch from the outfield until Zaheer Khan was called on to complete the innings.

Despite losing Herschelle Gibbs to a inside-edged mow off RP Singh, South Africa had made a dominant start, racing to 44 from the first five overs. Both Graeme Smith and De Villiers cut the power powerfully, and there was one magnificent straight drive from de Villiers when Ishant Sharma pitched too full. That was enough for MS Dhoni to decide that his pacemen weren't the answer.

Ravindra Jadeja came on and conceded only three in the last of the Powerplay overs, and thereafter Dhoni rotated his slow bowlers rapidly. Rohit Sharma, a bit of a bowling star in the IPL, came on, as did Yuvraj Singh, but the breakthrough came courtesy the specialist as Smith top-edged a heave off Harbhajan Singh to square leg. After that, it was a struggle.

De Villiers scored with pushes and nudges, but only 36 runs came in the eight overs after the pace bowlers were taken off. Something had to give, and the push inevitably came from de Villiers, who lofted Yuvraj over cover before swiping one down to the midwicket rope. That stroke also took him to his half-century from 41 deliveries.

When he then clipped Suresh Raina neatly for four more, a charge seemed imminent. But it wasn't to be. JP Duminy was stumped of Raina and the extremely accurate Jadeja shone again, taking a steepling return catch after a big miscue from de Villiers. Zaheer snaffled Mark Boucher in an 11-run final over, but with the resources in hand, India were favourites to chase down the 131 needed for a consolation victory.