If Pakistan envisage reaching the semifinals at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup then they simply must find their best form and defeat a surging South Africa at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai today.

Pakistan all-rounder Shadab Khan insisted Thursday that his under-performing teammates believe "miracles can happen" as the former champions enter a "do-or-die" battle to rescue their faltering World Cup campaign.

Miraculous turnarounds are very much consistent with Pakistan – the only time they lifted the trophy under the leadership of a courageous Irman Khan in 1992 was only made possible after they got a lifeline and performed a stunning turnaround.

Pakistan have shown glimpses of their best so far with two wins from five matches, but have yet to have all aspects of their game peaking at once.

After starting brightly with wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka, the 1992 champions have been well beaten by India and Australia before being humiliated by neighbours Afghanistan last time out.

On Friday, they face another test of their resources against free-scoring South Africa.

"We have under-performed in all three departments -- batting, bowling, and fielding," said Shadab.

"We have not played good cricket but have bounced back from such situations."

With four group games to play, Pakistan can still make the semifinals but there is little margin for error.

They will need to be firing on all cylinders against a powerful South Africa outfit who have been one of the most impressive teams in India with four wins and just one blemish to their name thus far.

That loss was a shock defeat at the hands of the Netherlands and it is no coincidence that was the only time that the Proteas' strong batting order didn't click.

With Quinton de Kock, Heinrich Klaasen, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, and David Miller all in good touch, opposition bowlers have struggled to contain South Africa's batters and this is what Pakistan's bevy of quicks will need to do in Chennai.

Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf, who has had an overly disappointing campaign so far, will be key factors with the ball for Pakistan, and the pair must claim early wickets while the ball is swinging or yet another high-scoring encounter will be likely.

Also, as well as victory on Friday, Pakistan will also be looking to improve their -0.40 net run-rate which could prove to be the tie-breaker in the race for semifinal spots. Being able to do this against a ruthless Proteas will definitely be very tricky but Shadab said his teammates believe in miracles.

"If you have belief, miracles happen," said Shadab, the deputy to skipper Babar Azam.

"We have not played like we were playing before the World Cup but from tomorrow we have to start a winning streak."

He added: "When you are in a do-or-die position then I think the pressure is less because you have nothing to lose."

Shadab has been one of many in the Pakistan squad who has yet to fully fire.

The 25-year-old leg-spinner has just two wickets at 90.00 and scored 74 runs in three outings.

He was dropped for the match with Australia before being recalled to face Afghanistan.

"When you don't do well the criticism is valid but there are ups and downs in a player's performance so I am confident that I will improve," said Shadab who scored 40 in the losing cause against Afghanistan.

Shadab insists the shock eight-wicket defeat to Afghanistan in a game also played at Chennai is now behind them.

Victory, he insists, will hopefully quieten the criticism which has grown steadily since the eighth loss in eight World Cup meetings to India.

Statbox:

*South Africa have a 21-game advantage in ODI head-to-head records as they have won 51 matches against Pakistan's 30 in 82 meetings, with one encounter seeing no results.

*The Proteas also hold the upper hand in World Cup meetings, with three wins to Pakistan's two which have come in the past two editions of the tournament.

*In three outings at the Chepauk, Pakistan have won two and lost one, while South Africa are unbeaten at the venue with two wins in two matches.

*South Africa have posted three of the six 350-plus totals in the ongoing World Cup. On all six occasions, the teams have batted first.

*Mohammad Rizwan is five runs short of completing 2000 ODI runs, while pacer Hasan Ali needs one more wicket to reach 100 ODI wickets.

*Aiden Markram needs 70 runs to reach 2000 runs in ODIs.