South African captain AB de Villiers won the toss and sent Pakistan in to bat in the World Cup Pool B match at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday.
South Africa have won three of their four matches and another win will ensure their place in the quarter-finals along with defending champions India who earned a berth in the next round with a win over the West Indies on Friday.
Fit-again JP Duminy returned for the Proteas in place of Farhan Behardien.
Pakistan, who have two wins in four matches, dropped struggling opener Nasir Jamshed while Haris Sohail was ruled out with a heel injury. In came, Younis Khan and Sarfraz Ahmed.
Teams:
Pakistan: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Ahmed Shehzad, Sarfraz Ahmed, Younis Khan, Umar Akmal, Sohaib Maqsood, Shahid Afridi, Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali, Sohail Khan, Mohammad Irfan
South Africa: AB de Villiers (captain), Hashim Amla, Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis, Rilee Rossouw, David Miller, JP Duminy, Kyle Abbott, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir
Umpires: Richard Kettleborough (ENG) and Bruce Oxenford (AUS)
Tv umpire: Chris Gaffaney (NZL)
Match referee: Chris Broad (ENG)
Source: AFP