Ajax Cape Town striker Sifiso Vilakazi returned to haunt his old club when his hat-trick helped sink Free State Stars 3-2 in a ding-dong Telkom Knockout semifinal played at East London's Absa Stadium on Sunday.

Ajax will meet Orlando Pirates in the final on 13 December at a venue to be decided. This comes after the 'Buccaneers' scored a 3-0 win over Bloemfontein Celtic in Durban on Saturday night to complete a miserable weekend for the two Free State clubs.

Stars started well and had Ajax under a lot of pressure in the early stages and were rewarded when their top striker, Diyo Sibisi, blasted home the opening goal in the 14th minute. Sibisi rounded off some good build up from his teammates and gave keeper Sean Roberts no chance with a well directed shot.

A minute later Sibisi was centimetres wide when his shot was deflected for a corner after a good cross but Stars' rhythm was broken when the match was held up for over five minutes when Roberts was injured trying to clear a high ball and appeared to be accidently elbowed by teammate Eduardo Ferreira. But the Urban Warriors keeper was patched up and was able to continue.

Stars suffered a blow when striker Paulus Masehe was forced to leave the field in the 33rd minute with an injury and was replaced by Saitjheni Tsotetsi.

Vilakazi leveled matters form a corner in the 38th minute when he capitalised on poor marking from the Stars defenders.

Vilakazi thumped home his first goal of the afternoon in the 41st minute giving Stars keeper Kennedy Mweene no chance after teammate Sameehg Doutie had crashed a stunning 30-metre rocket off the Stars crossbar. Quick as a flash Vilakazi pounced and added more misery to his former club.

Sibisi thought he had equalised a minute from the break but his goal was disallowed by referee Peter Mabuza for a foul on Roberts.

Stars came out fighting at the start of the second half. Sibisi could not believe his luck when his shot inched past the post in the 50th minute with Roberts well beaten.

Ajax made a tactical mistake in the second half when they stood back and allowed Stars to come at them. Stars needed no invitation.

Sibisi, who was their best player on the day, hit a cross from Rueben Cloete over the crossbar in the 53rd minute. Stars' Nigerian midfielder Prince Olomu saw his goal-bound shot deflected for a corner in the 60th minute.

Roberts made a good save from a well hit shot from Cloete three minutes later as the pressure mounted on the beleaguered Ajax defence.

The equaliser came as no surprise two minutes later and was just reward when Sibisi's header was helped into the net by Ajax defender Clayton Daniels.

But the goal woke up Ajax, who hit back with the winner when Vilakazi rounded a stunning man of the match performance to net his third goal in a goal mouth melee on 67 minutes. A great save from Zambian international Mweene prevented Nhanhla Shabalala from making it 4-2 in the 80th minute. Then, a minute later Mweene stopped a good effort by Daniels as Ajax tried to get that extra insurance goal.

Stars to their credit never gave up and made a fight of it until the final whistle. They came close but Olomu was denied an equaliser in the dying seconds when his shot heading for goal was blocked and cleared.