Shahid Afridi put in a wonderful performance as Pakistan beat tournament favourites South Africa in the first World Twenty20 semi-final.

South Africa had gone into the Trent Bridge showdown unbeaten in the tournament, while Pakistan had played dreadfully in their opener - losing by 48 runs to England - and had also been comfortably beaten by Sri Lanka.

Afridi hit 51 off 34 balls and then went on to remove batsmen Herschelle Gibbs and AB de Villiers in his first two overs to pick up figures of 2-16.

South Africa eventually finished seven runs adrift on 142-5 with Jacques Kallis hitting a valiant 64 off 54 balls but there was scant support.

After the agonies of South Africa's failed World Cup campaigns in the 50-over format in 1999, 2003 and 2007, South Africa again failed to do justice to their talents when it really mattered.