As they sat beaten and forlorn in their dugout, South Africa might have struggled to see the last rites for the image of the headlines about to be written. Once again they lost a semi-final they were expected to win, and Trent Bridge felt a lonely place as passionate Pakistan support bellowed from a good three quarters of the seats.

This was a special occasion and Shahid Afridi rose to it by following an innings of 51 from 34 balls with two wickets. Nasser Hussain could barely make himself heard at the presentation ceremony and the horns were still blaring in the gridlock outside the ground more than an hour after play.

Dale Steyn and Wayne Parnell bowled superbly at the end of the Pakistan innings, but South Africa were stiff-shirted in their response. Jacques Kallis hit 64 from 54 balls, but he struggled to improvise against Afridi and the spin of Saeed Ajmal, and needed better support.

Pakistan were well ahead when Younus Khan took the surprising decision to use Fawad Alam’s bit-part left-arm spin for the first time in the tournament. Fifteen runs from the over, including a straight six by Kallis, reduced the requirement to 52 from 30 balls and the reintroduction of Ajmal denied Umar Gul his full quota.

When Gul returned, he quickly found his yorker and JP Duminy belatedly moved up a gear. Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain, acknowledged that his side will again be described as “chokers”, but Younus, his opposite number, said: “We are suffering in Pakistan, so this is a great thing for our people. It means everything to me.”

Kamran Akmal had given Pakistan a strong start before the arrival of Afridi lifted the innings, and the crowd, to another level. Three times in succession, he stepped away to force Johan Botha over extra cover, the bowler daring him to repeat the shot each time with more flight, and Afridi iced the cake with a sublime cut.

The introduction of Duminy proved a temptation too far. As Smith hoped when he drew on the occasional off spin, Afridi did not even bother with a sighter and miscued his first ball. The orthodox Shoaib Malik proved unable to accelerate, having taken 29 balls to hit a boundary, but South Africa’s apparent control was illusionary.

SCOREBOARD

Pakistan
†Kamran Akmal c Morkel b Steyn 23
Shahzaib Hasan c Van der Merwe b Parnell 0
Shahid Afridi c De Villiers b Duminy 51
Shoaib Malik c Botha b Van der Merwe 34
*Younis Khan not out 24
Abdul Razzaq not out 12
Extras (lb 2, w 3) 5
Total (4 wkts, 20 overs)149

Misbah-ul-Haq, Fawad Alam, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Aamer did not bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-28, 3-95, 4-124.

Bowling: Steyn 4-0-28-1; Parnell 4-0-26-1; Kallis 2-0-14-0; Morkel 2-0-13-0; Van der Merwe 4-0-29-1; Botha 2-0-23-0; Duminy 2-0-14-1.

South Africa
J H Kallis c Shoaib b Ajmal 64
*G C Smith c and b Aamer 10
H H Gibbs b Afridi 5
A B de Villiers b Afridi 1
J P Duminy not out 44
J A Morkel run out 2
†M V Boucher not out 0
Extras (b 4, lb 11, w 1)16
Total (5 wkts, 20 overs)142

R E van der Merwe, W D Parnell, J Botha and D W Steyn did not bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-40, 2-46, 3-50, 4-111, 5-134.

Bowling: Razzaq 3-0-19-0; Aamer 4-0-30-1; Afridi 4-0-16-2; Ajmal 4-0-23-1; Shoaib 1-0-5-0; Gul 3-0-19-0; Alam 1-0-15-0.

Umpires: B F Bowden (New Zealand) and S J Davis (Australia).

Man of the match: Shahid Afridi (Pakistan).