They suffered a humiliating 124-run thrashing at the hands of arch-rivals India and a second consecutive defeat would have sent them crashing out of the tournament.
South Africa were indebted to David Miller's 75 not out after their top-order slump.
Pakistan were 119 for three in reply after 27 overs when rain stopped play.
And when fast bowler Morne Morkel took two wickets in three balls, Pakistan were faltering at 41 for two under the Edgbaston floodlights.
"The result throws Group B wide open and gives Pakistan a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals when they face Sri Lanka in their final match on Monday".
Cape Town - Following their 19-run Duckworth-Lewis loss to Pakistan on Wednesday, the Proteas must beat India in London on Sunday to ensure progression to the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy.
An unchanged South Africa will look to extend the pain India's batsmen applied to Paksitan's bowling unit at the same venue on the weekend, and bank on their bowling attack that includes the twop two ranked ODI bowlers in world cricket to do the damage under lights against a Pakistan side featuring two changes.
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UPDATE: the match has been called off. Pakistan have won by 19 runs (DLS method).
South Africa takes on Pakistan in today's Champions Trophy game as favourites in the Group B match-up. I guess we need to finish the game by 10.15 PM, so count backward from there to get your answers.
"We took wickets. If you take wickets, every good team comes under pressure".
Pacer Hasan Ali took 2-34, Junaid Khan picked up 2-53 and the spin duo of Imad Wasim (2-20) and Mohammad Hafeez (1-51) thwarted South Africa's highly-rated batting line-up restricting them to a modest 219-3. We played good, and won our first game in the tournament.
Pakistan Playing 11: Azhar Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed*†, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Junaid Khan.
Pakistan will bank on former South Africa coach Mickey Arthur to provide them with insights in their bid to dodge elimination.
De Villiers played down his injury as a "little tweak"."I don't think it's too serious", he told Sky Sports. Meanwhile, South Africa outclassed Sri Lanka by 96 runs in their opening match and it will be an uphill task for Pakistan to stop the Proteas juggernaut.
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