(ESPNCRICINFO) – As Keshav Maharaj exploded into celebration, having swung Mohammad Nawaz to the fine-leg boundary for the winning runs with the No. 11 for company, waves of relief washed over his team-mates watching from the dressing room. South Africa had thrown off the yoke of the choke by the barest of margins against Pakistan in Chennai to chase successfully for the first time in their World Cup 2023 campaign.

The one-wicket win took them level with India on ten points at the top of the table, but ahead on net run rate, though they have played an extra game.
The victory was set up by their bowlers – Tabraiz Shamsi and Marco Jansen in particular – who dismissed Pakistan for 270 in 46.4 overs despite them having been well placed at 225 for 5 in the 40th. And when Aiden Markram – who overtook Virat Kohli to become the second-highest run scorer of this World Cup during his innings of 91 – and David Miller were putting together their 70-run stand for the fifth wicket, a South African win looked comfortable. All that changed when Miller edged Shaheen Shah Afridi behind in the 34th over, with the target still 65 runs away.

The fine balance appeared to swing South Africa’s way once again as Jansen joined Markram and the pair began to hack at the equation rather than approach it with caution, being South Africa’s last pair of recognised batters. The ball after he clattered Haris Rauf back over his head for a flat six in the 37th over, Jansen spooned a slower ball to Babar Azam at point, leaving South Africa 36 away from the target with four wickets in hand.

Fourteen runs later, the legspinner Usama Mir, who came into this game in the 15th over of South Africa’s chase as a concussion substitute for Shadab Khan, picked up his second wicket: Markram’s attempted heave resulting in a leading edge that landed in Babar’s hands once again. South Africa’s last recognised batter was gone with his team still 22 runs short.
Afridi then found the outside edge of Gerald Coetzee and Rauf pulled off a one-handed diving return catch to dismiss Lungi Ngidi. By then, they had poked and prodded their way to within 11 runs of victory. On another day, umpire Alex Wharf might have upheld Rauf’s lbw appeal against the No. 11 Shamsi off the final ball of the 46th over. Not tonight. Pakistan reviewed the not-out decision, only to watch in agony as the ball-tracking showed impact to be umpire’s call. Nine balls later, it was all over – after 25 matches, the 2023 ODI World Cup had its first thriller. And South Africa did not choke.