South Africa continued their winning streak as they registered an easy 12-run victory over India.

Indian openers — Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma got India off to a flying start, chasing a modest target of 131 against South Africa in an inconsequential match.

Gambhir departed after playing a blazing knock against South Africa.

Thereafter, Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma depart in quick succession as India slip into trouble, chasing a small total.

India simply kept losing wickets thereafter, although Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh shared a brief partnership to give their team some hope.

Earlier, India stayed in hunt for a consolatory win in their final Twenty20 World Cup tie after their disciplined bowlers restricted South Africa to a modest 130 for five in an inconsequential Super Eight match.

Playing for pride after their title defence went up in smoke, defending champions India used as many as eight bowlers to restrict South Africa to a modest total, hoping to sign off on a winning note.

AB de Villiers top-scored for the Proteas with a 51-ball 63 with the help of seven fours.

South Africa captain Graeme Smith preferred to set India a target after he won the toss on a sluggish track but it was far from a perfect start for the Proteas who lost Herschelle Gibbs (5) in the second over.

Hit through cover for a searing boundary, RP Singh had his revenge when Gibbs dragged the next one onto his stumps to make an early exit.

Not that Smith (26) or de Villiers panicked.

On the contrary, de Villiers cut with ferocity and drove with elan and it was RP Singh who bore the brunt of his wrath.

Smith, on his part, looked quite at home against Zaheer, hitting the left-arm seamer for two boundaries. What further helped his cause was Rohit Sharma’s direct throw that narrowly missed the stumps with Smith nowhere near the scene.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni pressed Ishant Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Ravindra Jadeja and even Rohit Sharma into service but it was Harbhajan who earned the breakthrough.

Smith first charged out and then lunged to connect and Jadeja took the skier at mid-wicket to end the Protea skipper’s run-a-ball stay in the middle.

India did manage to put a brake on the run rate but both de Villiers and JP Duminy (10) ran hard between wickets to keep the scoreboard ticking.

De Villiers smote Yuvraj for two successive fours to bring up his fifty but Duminy fell to Suresh Raina at the other end, stranded way down the track when Dhoni knocked off the bails.

De Villiers eventually fell in the 18th overs when Jadeja took a skier off his own bowling and despite desperate efforts, South Africa fell well shy of the 150-mark.