Three wickets in three overs for Jacques Kallis dented Pakistan's hopes of pulling off an unlikely 318-run chase in the deciding one-day international at Dubai.
After being given an enterprising start by Shahzaib Hasan and Mohammad Hafeez, who added 81 in the opening 12 overs, Pakistan slid to 129 for 5, with Kallis doing the bulk of the damage.
Kallis was taken taken for 11 in his opening over, but struck in each of his next three. Shahzaib, who came into the side in place of Imran Farhat, made a brisk 39 before skewing a drive to Morkel at mid-on. Banging the ball in and pinning the Pakistan batsmen back, Kallis followed Shahzaib's scalp with the important wicket of Younis Khan.
Younis's hard-working 73 earned him the man of the match award in Pakistan's series-levelling win in the fourth game, but could only succeed in gloving a short ball down the leg side this time round. If his wicket magnified the difficulty of Pakistan's task, Mohammad Yousuf's tame fall two overs later rammed home South Africa's advantage. Yousuf only landed in Dubai yesterday, but replaced Asad Shafiq at No. 4., and duly fell quickly, guiding a length ball off the face to de Villiers.
The slide continued when Fawad Alam feathered a rapid short ball from Steyn having made just one. In all, four wickets had fallen for 19 runs in 33 balls to rip the stuffing out of Pakistan's reinforced middle order.
All the while Hafeez could only watch on helplessly. Together with Shahzaib he'd got his side off to an ideal start, driving and pulling with his typical upright style on his way to a fifty off 49 balls. He looked at ease throughout, but fell soon after reaching his fifty, chipping Johan Botha half-heartedly to Kallis at long-on.
Botha and Robin Peterson, who came into the side for David Miller, found plenty of assistance in the wicket, with Peterson ripping a couple past Shahid Afridi's outside edge. With Umar Akmal and Afridi together, and Abdul Razzaq still to come, Pakistan still have some hope, but to pull off victory here would crown a classic series with its most thrilling finish.
A cameo 41-ball 59 from JP Duminy carried South Africa to 317 in the deciding one-day international against Pakistan at Dubai.
Capping the good work of Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers, who each made half-centuries, Duminy ensured a mid-innings stumble did not cost South Africa and left Pakistan with a mammoth chase as they look for their first ODI series win in two years.
64 runs came off the last five overs as Duminy laid into Shoaib Akhtar and Wahab Riaz. It justified South Africa's decision to delay the Powerplay until the end as he cleared the infield with inventive and classy strokeplay. He looks to have recovered his poise this season after a chastening experience last year, and one shot in particular, moving across his stumps to flick Wahab past short fine-leg, betrayed a man on top of his game.
Pakistan's preparations for the final round of this epic tussle were hardly ideal, with wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider mysteriously disappearing on the morning of the game and failing to arrive with his team-mates at the ground.
It leant a typically chaotic feel to Pakistan with Umar Akmal drafted in to replace Zulqarnain behind the stumps and Amla took full advantage of the distractions by launching the innings with a string of boundaries.
All year Amla has shown one-day batting extends beyond vein-popping power and barely needed to swing the bat as racked up boundary after boundary. His opening partner and captain Graeme Smith has not been in the mint condition of Amla and their contrasting styles jarred as Smith was beaten twice by Abdur Razzaq before chipping a Shoaib slower ball tamely to mid-off.
Amla didn't take any notice of his captain's downfall, easing Shahid Afridi down the ground for six on his way to fifty from 33 balls. Kallis happily eased along Amla's slipstream, collecting singles and doubles as Pakistan's spinners tried to regain control.
Amla's fall took everyone, not least the man himself, by surprise. Having looked certain to progress to yet another hundred he lifted a well-timed drive straight to Akhtar at long-off. Afridi celebrated with his customary, arms-aloft, pose but even he'd concede the dismissal was more down to the batsman.
Kallis kept South Africa moving with a pair of drives off Wahab Riaz's second over on his way to a 54-ball half century as AB de Villiers struggled initially to conquer the spinners. Abdur Rehman was particularly impressive, racing through his overs of brisk, accurate left-arm spin which helped check the scoring rate. The one thing Rehman couldn't manage was a breakthrough and as de Villiers settled the rate crept back up.
If Amla's batting was poetic, Kallis's was typically prosaic. Few shots were memorable and he struck just four boundaries in his 95-ball stay, passing 11,000 ODI runs in the process. Together with de Villiers, he added 121 runs and laid the platform for Duminy's late-innings blitz.
With South Africa going well it looked the right time to take the Powerplay but instead they delayed and lost three wickets, including both set batsmen, for nine runs in 14 deliveries.
First de Villiers chipped crisply towards midwicket to find a diving Younis Khan before Kallis skewed a square drive towards point where Wahab ran in diving full-stretch to clasp the ball inches off the turf. His fired-up celebration emphasised just how important the scalp was and when Colin Ingram was smartly run out, with a one-handed pick up and throw from Abdur Rehman at cover, Pakistan looked to have turned their fortunes around. Instead Duminy found a willing partner in Johan Botha and the pair lifted South Africa to a huge total.
The earlier confusion with Zulqarnain had forced Pakistan to name their XI for the final game early with three changes. Umar Akmal, Shahzaib Hasan and surprisingly, Mohammad Yousuf came into the side. Yousuf only arrived in Dubai on Sunday, after recovering from an abductor strain, and wasn't expected to take part in the ODIs at all but replaced Asad Shafiq.
Such was Akmal's prowess behind the stumps he was barely noticeable. Anonymity, however, is not his style he made up for his flawless glovework by chatting incessantly. He will need to be as prolific with the bat if Pakistan are to pull off a first ODI series win against South Africa.
