Chasing a modest target of 220, Pakistan were making steady progress when rain halted play here on Wednesday.
Batting at a sedate pace, Pak had reached 119/3 in 27 overs. Babar Azam (31) and Shoaib Malik (16) were at the crease. The South Asian side were ahead on Duckworth-lewis calculation and would win if there is no further play.
Getting off to a good start, Pak had reached 40 without loss when two sudden wickets put them in a precarious position. However, Azam and Mohammad Hafeez (26) kept them in the hunt with a 52-run partnership in 94 balls.
Earlier in the day, faced with a do-or-die situation, a fired up Pakistan produced an inspiring bowling show to restrict South Africa to a modest 219 for eight in a crucial Group B ICC Champions Trophy match, here on Wednesday.
The spinners choked the Proteas in the beginning with three strikes and later the pacemen pulled the rug from under South Africa's feet with fiery spells.
Had it not been for a fighting knock from David Miller (75*) and his timely 47-run stand with Chris Morris (28) for the seventh wicket, the Proteas would have even struggled to get close to 200-run mark.
It was Miller's slowest fifty in ODI cricket as he took 83 balls to complete it but it came at a crucial time for his side. Miller's 79-run knock had only four boundaries. He also found some good support from Kagiso Rabada, who came up with a 26-run knock as the they added 48 runs for the eight wicket. These two partnerships after South Africa were struggling at 118 for six, propped up the Proteas innings.
left-arm spinner Imad Wasim took two wickets upfront while Hasan Ali (3/18) wiped off the middle order in a sensational three-wicket burst that turned the tide in the favour of Pakistan, who need to win this match to stay alive.
Pacers Mohammed Amir and Junaid Khan (2/53) did not take many wickets but peppered the South Africans with well- calculated yorkers to further choke them.
Pakistan spinners proved very effective early in the South African innings with Wasim (2/20) and Mohammed Hafeez (1/51) cleaning up the top-order within 15 overs.
Mohammed Hafeez sent back well-set Quinton de Kock (33), who used his feet very well before attempting a sweep and was caught in front of the wicket. Together, they bowled 14 overs in tandem, not giving many free runs to the Proteas batsmen. Faf du Plessis (26) and David Miller had to work hard to keep the scoreboard ticking but they could not build a big partnership as paceman Hasan Ali came out to ball and removed the former with the second ball of his spell.