Pakistan v South Africa

At Birmingham, June 7 (day/night). Pakistan won by 19 runs (DLS). Toss: South Africa. One-day international debut: Fakhar Zaman.
Written off after a supine performance against India, Pakistan sparked into life - and exposed all South Africa's big-tournament frailties in a rain-shortened match. A buoyant display in the field was the genesis, with slow left-armer Imad Wasim strangling the South Africans, and dismissing de Villiers for the first golden duck of his 221-match career, to make it 61 for three. After du Plessis and Miller briefly steadied the innings, Hasan Ali ripped through the middle order with three wickets - and later held two excellent catches - to whip a largely Pakistani crowd into a frenzy.

The energy from the stands flowed on to the field and, although Miller kept his head to give South Africa something to bowl at, the force was with Pakistan. All forecasts pointed to a weather-affected second innings (and therefore DLS), yet de Villiers elected not to open with Morkel, his most threatening bowler. The debutant Fakhar Zaman duly cashed in on an errant Parnell to put Pakistan ahead of the rate. Morkel hauled South Africa back into it with a five-over spell of two for seven but, when he was withdrawn, Pakistan recovered quickly. By the time he returned ten overs later to dismiss Mohammad Hafeez it was too late. The rain arrived as predicted, with Pakistan easily ahead. "If I had known it would only be 27 overs, I would have attacked a lot more," said de Villiers. Given that he had been warned about the weather, it was difficult to have much sympathy.
Man of the Match: Hasan Ali.