Still on knife-edge, Pakistan face their toughest test at the World Cup on Saturday.

A well thought-out counter blitz seems the only formula that can give Misbah-ul-Haq’s men any chance against a heavily-loaded South African side who would definitely be looking to launch raids early in the game at Auckland.

Pakistan must be dreaming of overcoming a supersonic South Africa but, for some, defeat is a foregone conclusion. Victory at Eden Park though, would be bonanza for Misbah and company, who started off their campaign in less than ideal fashion before waking up to scrape past Zimbabwe and hammer the UAE, giving a huge boost to their quarter-finals chances.

So here's how it's looking: we have on one hand a fully-equipped, high-flying South Africa while on the other a fragile-looking, capricious Pakistan.

Very few in Pakistan may know that we have not beaten South Africa in a World Cup, having lost to the Proteas in 1992, 1996 and 1999. Overall head-to-head ODI record (matches 71, Pakistan won 23, South Africa won 47, no result 1) also favours AB de Villiers' side.

However, history suggests South Africa somehow become fallible, no matter how robust they are, particularly in mega events – the prime reason they haven’t an ICC event. For some reason, they are yet to banish the demons in their heads. When Pakistan last played the Proteas in an ODI contest in the latter’s den, Misbah’s brigade downed them 2-1 in the three-match rubber, if that's a consolation.

Chinks in South African armour? Extremely tough to spot any in the current outfit, but there are a few.

The most prominent weakness seems to be their conventional, guarded approach. Smothering them with belligerence would be the way to go. Attack them all-out early on and they will show signs of nerves. That has been their hallmark, their psyche for years. Zimbabwe, earlier in the tournament, gave De Villiers’ team a real scare as the former sought to chase a mammoth 340. Elton Chigumbura’s men attacked and at one stage were sitting comfortably at 191-2 before losing the way. Dale Steyn was hammered for 64 in his nine overs. That must have dented his morale. Prior to the World Cup, South Africa were outplayed 1-4 in Australia by the hosts who play a ruthless, fight fire-with-fire type of a game.

Contrarily, if their opponents allow them space to think clearly, the South Africans become clinical. What they did to a lethargic, clueless West Indies in this World Cup is history.

Batting has been a huge worry for the green shirts. Often they go into the shell, waiting for the opportunity to score instead of creating them. They are better advised to try to outsmart Proteas with an out-of-the-box move. Send someone in, in place of a regular opener, to smack Steyn, Morne Morkel and others – while Ahmed Shehzad keeps the other end intact — at a relatively small Eden Park arena. They should settle for 70-odd in the first 15 overs, or even 80-1. Anything that will get the South Africans scratching their heads.

Talking of openers, one hopes Misbah and Waqar Younis do not need a PhD on ‘how to judge an opener’ to be convinced that Nasir Jamshed is failing horribly. In a make-or-break match against a world-class team he simply doesn’t fit in. Talented Sarfraz Ahmed — despite Nasir’s multiple flops and Umar Akmal’s embarrassing bloomers behind the timber — has waited on the bench for ages. Now if Nasir fails against South Africa and pressure shifts to the other batsmen and they collapse under it, the captain and the coach would certainly have to accept the entire responsibility.

Clubbing Steyn, their top gun, earlier in the game will certainly upset De Villiers and his men. A Misbah-anchored middle order will also feel relieved, and then milking singles and doubles can then set a platform for Pakistan for a final assault in the last eight to ten overs.

Containing the likes of Hashim Amla, Quniton de Kock, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, and David Miller (and not to forget free-scoring Rilee Rossouw) is like trying to block a moving steamroller.

Therefore, here too, Misbah must take some calculated risks. He simply cannot allow the batsmen to settle and bludgeon his bowlers later in the innings. There are encouraging signs in the bowling department with Mohammad Irfan and Wahab Riaz gradually gaining rhythm, pace and swing, and they need to be employed.

Misbah will need to come out of his traditional mindset and must set attacking fields for his bowlers to put pressure on South African batsmen to compel them to make mistakes. This is the only way Pakistan can hope to seize wickets regularly otherwise with a 200-2 score in the 40th over, South Africa would amass a massive total.

‘Horses for courses’ goes the adage. One feels Yasir Shah, in place of Rahat Ali who doesn’t seem that threatening as far as taking wickets is concerned, should be brought in the playing eleven as traditionally South Africans have been suspect against quality spin stuff.

Pakistan may miss left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar tomorrow who could have been inducted particularly when wizard Saeed Ajmal was out. Though Rahat fared well against Zimbabwe and the UAE (taking one wicket in each game), South Africa are in a different league altogether. Yasir will also add to the variety in bowling; the leg-spinner’s energetic start may well give heart to Haris Sohail bowling his occasional left-arm spin.

The final five, six overs sometimes decide the outcome of the match. While batting, Pakistan must make sure they have enough wickets in the bag, and the momentum, to launch the onslaught. Missing Ajmal is a big drawback and so bowling in death overs is the key. Leaving too many wickets to take in the end could cause a disaster for Pakistan and so it must be reiterated that Misbah and his bowlers must target early wickets instead of stopping runs. With less wickets in hand in final overs, chances are South Africa will remain under control.

Michael Clarke the other day said batsmen could smash a triple century in ODIs soon. True, indeed. Being fearless is the keyword here and Pakistan cannot afford a Nasir Jamshed like slip up in the field. Top-notch fielding is a pre-requisite if you are to challenge South Africa, or else goodbye Pakistan.