Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer [Images] came down heavily on his team's showing against South Africa on Friday, saying they batted poorly.

"I thought it was a poor batting performance. Our fielding and bowling performance was better than against New Zealand [Images], but our batting was abject," Woolmer said after the 124-run defeat in the Champions Trophy that put Pakistan out of the tournament.

Fast bowler Makhaya Ntini [Images] took 5 for 21 as Pakistan were bundled out for a paltry 89 in reply to South Africa's 213 for 8.

"It was a difficult pitch, but we played some poor shots," he added.

Pakistan had themselves to blame for letting South Africa off the hook after reducing them to 42 for 5 at one stage. Mark Boucher [Images] (69) and Justin Kemp (64) added 131 runs for the sixth wicket to lead South Africa's revival.

"Between the 15th and the 18th over, the ball went out of shape and it was changed. The new ball didn't swing and I think that made the difference," the Pakistan coach said.

"We bowled superbly and had them in trouble upfront, but Mark Boucher and Justin Kemp had a good partnership. I thought 200 was a bit too much on this pitch.

Woolmer also believes that Shahid Afridi [Images] deserves another opportunity after his recent failures.

The dashing right-hander scored just 19 runs in this tournament to follow up on his recent failures in one-dayers. Since his 56 against the West Indies [Images] in May last year, he has failed to cross the 50-run mark.

"It's not the end of the road for Afridi. He hit that six hard, didn't he?" Woolmer joked.

"But I think everyone goes through a bad patch. We need to support him in these tough times, work hard with him in the nets and hope he strikes form soon," Woolmer added.

Meanwhile, South Africa captain Graeme Smith [Images] was all praise for his team and said it was a remarkable turnaround after the early collapse.

"At 45 for 2 I looked back and was wondering whether I had made the correct decision [of batting first]. But Kemp and Boucher showed a lot of character to turn it around," Smith said.

The left-hander said after the initial collapse he was hoping the team would at least post around 120.

"At one stage I was hoping for around 120 or 150. So when we reached 200 I was happy."

Smith also heaped lavish praise on man of the match Makhaya Ntini, who took 5 for 21, to help South Africa enter the semi-finals.

"I knew the first 10 overs would be crucial; if they got to 40 for 1, then it would be difficult for us. But all credit to Ntini for that wonderful opening spell, and Pollock supported him well. They compliment each other so well," he said.

Even though the South African players are brought up on such fast pitches, Smith said his team was not totally ready for this pitch.

"We were preparing for slow pitches, so this pitch was a surprise even for us," Smith said.