South Africa 214 for 1 (Kirsten 102*, Gibbs 55) beat Pakistan 213 (Youhana 61) by nine wickets
Scorecard

Gary Kirsten marked his return to one-day cricket with a matchwinning 102 not out, as South Africa sauntered to a comfortable nine-wicket win at Paarl. After Pakistan had been dismissed for an under-par 213, Kirsten paced the run-chase to perfection and cruised home with eight overs to spare. The victory wrapped up the series for South Africa with one match still to come.

Kirsten's century was his 13th in 178 one-day matches, and his first for more than a year. He had been dropped from the one-day side back in August, but now, given a last chance to stake a claim for the World Cup, he seized the opportunity gratefully.

But it could have been a totally different story for Kirsten. When he was yet to score, he somehow got away with an lbw appeal from a Waqar Younis inswinger. The ball was curving straight into middle stump but Umpire Jerling, who presumably thought Kirsten got an inside edge, was unmoved. Then in the thirteenth over Kirsten chipped Abdul Razzaq straight to cover, where Shoaib Ahktar lamely tumbled to his left and spilled an easy chance. And when he survived chance No. 3 - a Razzaq slower ball that hit him on the back pad in front of off, only to be called no ball, you knew it was going to be his day.

After a quiet start in which Kirsten played his usual way and dropped anchor, Herschelle Gibbs smacked 15 runs from Waqar's sixth over to up the run-rate and kick-start the innings. He started to play in his usual style as he looked for the big boundaries - including two cracking back-foot cover-drives, the second of which brought up his fifty.

From then on, Gibbs continued to hit the big shots while Kirsten chipped and chivvied the ones and twos. And although Razzaq gave Pakistan some hope when he nipped one back through Gibbs's gate as he attempted a loose drive (111 for 1), Kirsten - with the help of Boeta Dippenaar who made an assured and unflustered 47 from 77 balls - made sure the result was never in doubt.

Kirsten applied the gloss finish, but South Africa's bowlers were just as much responsible for the win, after yet another disciplined performance. Pakistan, who won the toss and chose to bat first under heavy cloud cover, were in all sorts of trouble early on. Makhaya Ntini and Shaun Pollock beat the bat with alarming regularity, but the runs nevertheless came in a steady flow. Kamran Akmal, who took over as wicketkeeper from the injured Rashid Latif, became Salim Elahi's third opening partner of the series, and he was the early aggressor, dealing almost exclusively in boundaries behind point.

But Akmal was soon bowled by Ntini and when Abdul Razzaq and Elahi fell in the space of four balls, Pakistan were in some trouble at 67 for 3. Although Inzamam-ul-Haq and Youhana added 62 for the fourth wicket to build the platform for a decent total, Robin Peterson made the big breakthrough when he trapped Inzaman lbw for 34 (129 for 4).

Only Yousuf Youhana, whose 61 anchored Pakistan during a mid-innings slump, looked likely to provide the big innings needed on a juicy wicket. But, with his needless run out and Pakistan's lower order failing to keep their heads in the closing overs, South Africa were always going to be favourites.

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