New day, same approach, same challenges. Pakistan are alive in the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, recovering from big losses to India and West Indies by winning over Zimbabwe and UAE, but their need-to-win scenario now gets a lot tougher. On Saturday, they will face South Africa at the notoriously batsman-friendly Eden Park, fully aware of the power packed into AB de Villiers' unit and that they need to beat them to remain in contention for the quarter-finals.

"Everybody is determined. We all know that this is an important game if we really want to progress in this World Cup. We're really focused, determined, and looking forward for this game," Pakistan captain Misbah-Ul-Haqon said on the eve of the game.

Pakistan's challenge remains, firstly, to stop South Africa from putting up another huge total. Should they bat first, Pakistan will need their batsmen to really step up against an attack comprising Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Kyle Abbott, Imran Tahir and the fit-again Vernon Philander. Overall the Pakistan batting has underwhelmed, and few will look deeply into the fifties scored against UAE in Napier two evenings ago. Batting is their weak link, which Misbah acknowledged, and that in turn demands more from Pakistan's bowlers against a marauding South Africa batting line-up.

"We know that we've got a bowling attack where if we cross 250, no team in the world is just, you could say, relaxing chasing that 250," said Misbah. "We have our targets, and we play according to our strengths, and the kind of start we had in the last game, if we can repeat it against the top sides, we can manage to score 300. It's all about how you start the game and then how you finish it, so it's really important for us to have good starts, then to just go and score big. I think our bowling has been really doing well. We are confident that we've got bowlers who can get a wicket against any team. We are confident that we've got a bowling attack that can really put them under pressure."

With regards to Pakistan, it is difficult to see the woefully out of touch Nasir Jamshed get a fourth game following scores of 0, 1 and 4. Misbah spoke before the Napier game of how it wasn't as if Jamshed had gotten "nine or ten innings" to be judged on, but his repeated failures and lethargic fielding makes it tough to select him. For a team that has only one century opening stand in the previous eight matches, persisting with a liable batsman looks doubtful.

When the World Cup squad was announced, the board chairman termed wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfraz Ahmed as the third opener, but the 27-year-old has not featured in a game this tournament. In the three ODIs against Australia (last October) that he has been promoted to open, Sarfraz scored 34, 65 and 32 at a strike-rate of 86.18 - very high within this current set of batsmen - and shared partnerships of 9, 126 and 56 with Ahmed Shehzad. A major theme with Pakistan before and during the World Cup has been the surprise exclusion of Safraz, and now could be the time to throw him in. The experimental opening stand before Jamshed was paired with Shehzad against West Indies in Christchurch was Shehzad and Younis Khan, but the latter's failure quickly send him back to No 3, where he made 0 against West Indies.

After the win over UAE, coach Waqar Younis was asked whether Younis had a role to play in the remainder of the tournament and firmly said yes without adding more. Today it was Misbah's turn to answer that same question. "He is a very experienced batsman and surely brings a lot of value to our side," he said of the veteran Younis. "Yes, he hasn't been in form but he remains an integral part of the team and we rely on his inputs and hope he clicks when given the chance. We do consider him as an opening option."

That one spot at the top remains the major concern for Pakistan. In Napier, Shehzad shrugged off a lean run with 93, Haris Sohail scored a fluent 70 from No 3, Sohaib Maqsood breezed to 45 from 31 balls, Misbah added a third fifty and Shahid Afridi's seven-ball 21 showed that he too has something to contribute. The five-bowler approach has resulted in two wins in a row, so there are no foreseen changes. Mohammad Irfan is expected to play after an injury concern from Napier.

South Africa - positioned second in Pool B table with six points - have no real form worries, but they could do with a strong score from opener Quinton de Kock who has made 7, 7, 12 and 1 in the World Cup. He is the designated wicketkeeper too, but South Africa can easily call on de Villiers to perform that role. Philander and JP Duminy have come through fitness tests and are fit and available for section, leaving the management with the tough decision of who to drop. In Duminy's absence, Rilee Rossouw scored 61 off 39 balls and 61 not out off 30 balls, two blazing innings that helped the totals past 400. Abbott, drafted in for the injured Philander, has taken six wickets in two games while making incisions up front and at the death.

Steyn commended Abbott on his World Cup performances, while addressing South Africa's problem of plenty. "Yeah, some nice problems in our camp, isn't it? Guys that have scored hundreds sitting on the sideline. We have one of the best most skilful bowlers in Vernon who is just working his way back from injury, and you get somebody to replace him like Kyle," he said. "He comes out and takes wickets and it's part of a team that scored two 400 runs in a row and still managed to get 20 wickets. So, yeah, nice problem to have. He [Kyle] gets his chance like he did the other day and grabbed it with both hands. It just shows that the guys waiting in the wings are prepared to step up and are prepared to perform too. So I'm sure whoever plays tomorrow will be hungry enough to take wickets and score runs."

As de Villiers said a couple days ago, no one is guaranteed a spot in the XI. That is as close an indication that Abbott, as lively and quickly as he bowled, may go back to the bench on Saturday. Duminy's return is more straightforward, with the allrounder Farhaan Behardien likely to make way, and the think-tank appears to have plenty of faith in 22-year-old de Kock. If, and it is a tiny if, de Kock is benched, then Rossouw could be bumped back to open with the prolific Hashim Amla.

There are chances of rain on game day, and washout would give Pakistan one point. Considering how scratchy they've been, as well as how massive the challenge mounted by South Africa is, they may not be too unhappy with a point from this crucial fixture.

Probable XIs

South Africa: 1 Quentin de Kock (wk), 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 AB de Villiers (capt/wk), 5 JP Duminy, 6 David Miller, 7 Rilee Roussow, 8 Dale Steyn, 9 Kyle Abbott/Vernon Philander, 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Imran Tahir

Pakistan: 1 Nasir Jamshed/Younis Khan/Sarfraz Ahmed, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Haris Sohail, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 5 Sohaib Maqsood, 6 Umar Akmal (wk), 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Wahab Riaz, 9 Sohail Khan, 10 Rahat Ali, 11 Mohammad Irfan.