LONDON, Sept 19: West Indies reached the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy by beating South Africa by five wickets in the rain-affected Pool 'B' decider here at The Oval on Sunday.

Set 247 to win the West Indies reply was interrupted by Saturday's rain and they resumed on 20-0. They passed their target with seven balls to spare and now look forward to the semifinals - against Pakistan or India - on Wednesday.

Ramnaresh Sarwan (75), Brian Lara (49) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (51 not out) were the main contributors to the run chase but it was a 10-ball cameo from Ricardo Powell which proved the difference between the sides.

Powell, who made 16, came in at 214-4 with four overs left but turned the contest with two successive sixes off Shaun Pollock full-tosses that he planted into the stands over mid-wickets.

Chanderpaul made 51 from 52 balls with six fours and had to enlist the help of a runner for the last five overs when he appeared to be suffering from cramp. Lara had stressed the importance of keeping wickets in hand on Saturday night but openers Chris Gayle and Wavell Hinds were soon back in the pavilion.

Gayle attempted a pull from the last ball of the first over of the day from Pollock but edged the ball onto his stumps and Hinds, who thrashed Charl Langeveldt for two fours in the next over, was undone leg before by Pollock's next delivery.

Lara came in on 33-2 and survived the hat-trick ball pushing it to short mid-wicket before setting off for a run only for Pollock's attempted shy at the stumps to narrowly miss with the batsman well short of his ground.

Lara and Sarwan adopted a studious approach as Lance Klusener bowled an impressively tight spell of 0-32 from ten overs whilst Jacques Kallis went for just 14 from four overs.

The West Indians did not hit a boundary for 15 overs until Sarwan inside-edged Klusener to the fence then he threw off the shackles by hoisting Nicky Boje for a straight six.

Lara attempted to follow suit and dashed down the pitch to the spinner but was bowled by a ball that turned through his shot and hit the off-stump. He made 49 from 85 balls with all of his five fours coming in his first 31 deliveries.

With the West Indian captain gone the onus fell on Sarwan, who took 78 minutes and 38 balls to get to double figures, and Chanderpaul to up the scoring rate. The Guyanese pair did this impressively with the fourth 50 of the West Indian innings coming up in 37 balls. When Sarwan was bowled by Makhaya Ntini with 33 runs still needed for victory the game was in the balance but Powell's fireworks ensured the West Indies got home.

SCOREBOARD