JAIPUR- Herschelle Gibbs struck a half-century yesterday to help South Africa set a challenging target for defending champion the West Indies in the semi-finals of the limited-overs Champions Trophy.

Gibbs slammed a 90-ball 77 and shared an innings-building partnership of 92 for the fourth wicket with A.B. de Villiers as South Africa scored 258 for eight in 50 overs.

Batting first after skipper Graeme Smith won the toss, South Africa struggled to accelerate the run-rate before Gibbs and de Villiers (46) displayed some urgency in moving the scoreboard.

Gibbs struck one six and four boundaries on way to his 26th half-century in 190 one-dayers, brushing aside failure in three previous preliminary-round matches. He has 16 hundreds.

South Africa started on a shaky note, losing Smith (19) and Jacques Kallis (16) cheaply before opener Loots Bosman made a composed 58-ball 39 to mark his first appearance in the tournament.

De Villiers hit three fours from 57 balls before being run out going for a sharp single.

Gibbs played a pivotal role in South Africa garnering 76 runs in the last 10 overs. – (AP)

G. Smith b Taylor 19

L. Bosman c Gayle b Samuels 39

J. Kallis c Sarwan b Bravo 16

H. Gibbs c Lara b Bravo 77

A.B. de Villiers run out 46

J. Kemp b Bradshaw 3

M. Boucher c Sarwan b Samuels 16

S. Pollock b Taylor 4

R. Peterson not out 15

A. Nel not out 0

Extras: (1b, 6lb, 1nb, 15w) 23

Overs: 50. Batting time: 208 minutes.

Fall of wickets: 1-27, 2-65, 3-96, 4-188, 5-195, 6-219, 7-227, 8-256.

Did not bat: Makhaya Ntini.