South Africa had been fully expected to seal its place in the final four in Australia as it met the Netherlands at the Adelaide Oval on the last day of the group stage.

But the Dutch refused to read the script, Colin Ackermann blasting 41 off 26 balls as the Netherlands stunned the heavily fancied Proteas by 13 runs.

South Africa had been touted as a dark horse for the title, but instead the team extended its wretched run in white-ball World Cups and saw Mark Boucher's reign as coach end in bitter disappointment.

The Dutch finished a heady fourth in Group 2 and so will not need to go through qualifying for the next World Cup.

"The fact that we now have an opportunity to just walk straight in, I think it's a good confidence booster and very good for Dutch cricket," said bowler Brandon Glover, who took 3-9 against shell-shocked South Africa.

The Dutch delight changed the complexion of Group 2.

It sent top-ranked T20 team India into the semifinals before it even played Zimbabwe and turned Pakistan versus Bangladesh into a virtual quarterfinal.

Fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi then put three months of injury misery behind him with his career-best T20 figures of 4-22 to lead Pakistan into the last four.

Pakistan's World Cup campaign had looked dead and buried after an agonizing last-ball defeat to India in its opener and then a shock loss to Zimbabwe.

Now it will face last year's beaten finalist New Zealand on Wednesday in Sydney for a place in the Nov. 13 final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

'Thank you'

Rampant India thrashed Zimbabwe by 71 runs in the final group game to ensure it topped Group 2 ahead of arch-foe Pakistan and now faces Jos Buttler's England at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday.

Suryakumar Yadav hit a blazing unbeaten 61 and KL Rahul 51 as India piled on 186-5 against Zimbabwe, then bowled it out for 115 front of 82,507 mostly Indian fans at the MCG.

It was an ominous warning of intent from the 2007 champions.

"The fans have been brilliant all this while," said India skipper Rohit Sharma.

"Almost everywhere we've gone we've got a full house and we expect the same in the semifinals as well.

"On behalf of the team, I'd really like to thank them."

New Zealand, England and defending champion Australia all finished on seven points in Group 1, but the host missed out because of its vastly inferior net run rate. The Black Caps beat England to top spot.

Aside from plenty of rain, this World Cup has earned a reputation for one of shocks.

It all started on day one, in the preliminary round, when Asian champion Sri Lanka was hammered by Namibia by 55 runs.

Sri Lanka would still qualify for the Super 12 and along with it came Ireland, who dumped out two-time champion the West Indies.

The Irishmen were at it again at a wet Melbourne Cricket Ground as they defeated England, which along with Australia was the pre-tournament favorite.

England rescued its World Cup hopes with victory over New Zealand and then squeezed into the last four on Saturday when Ben Stokes drove the team to a four-wicket win over Sri Lanka with two balls to spare.

"England are a good team, and it will be a great contest," said Rohit.

"We should take pride in qualifying, firstly, and if we play that semifinal well, we have another big game as well."

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