The ICC [Images] Champions Trophy is heading towards the business end of things. New Zealand [Images] are in the semi-finals, while Sri Lanka [Images], who started strongly, are knocked out.

Pakistan face South Africa in Mohali on Friday in a do-or-die encounter, the winner guaranteed a place in the last four.

Both teams are keen to play down the pressure attached to the crucial day-night encounter and believe they need to avoid mistakes in order to progress.

Pakistan had a remarkable start to the tournament, beating the in-form Sri Lankans in their opening encounter. The team was in all sorts of problems before that match, with Shoaib Akhtar [Images] and Mohammad Asif [Images] returning home after testing positive.

But adversity sometimes serves up as a motivator, and it proved true for Pakistan against Sri Lanka.

However, they were brought crashing down to earth by New Zealand on Wednesday.

But captain Younis Khan believes that his boys have forgotten that defeat and are looking ahead to Friday's match with renewed confidence.

"If any other team would have gone through what we went before our first match, they would have crumbled. But we believed in ourselves and won that match. We could have won the last match too [against New Zealand] but we didn't take our chances," he said, in Mohali, on Thursday.

While Younis has got over the controversies that befell the team recently, including the Oval Test fiasco, he feels many of his players are yet to get over the shocks.

"Some boys are yet to get over the shocks. I think I am used to such kind of pressure because I handled such situations many times in my career before. The best way to get over it is to enjoy ourselves and forget the failures.

"I want the team to think positively and enjoy whatever they do. That is why I took them out for movies and we played football matches and I think it helped," he added.

Younis said the dew in Mohali is difficult to handle for the side fielding second and he would have no hesitation in fielding first if he wins the toss.

His South African counterpart Graeme Smith [Images], however, seemed unfazed by the dew.

"We dealt with the dew quite well against Sri Lanka. Hopefully, if we have to [against Pakistan], we can find the same measures we did the other night," Smith said.

He also seemed excited with the Mohali pitch, which offers the pacers a bit of help, but warned his bowlers against getting too excited.

"I hope with the extra bounce we don't get gung-ho. You can arrive at a wicket with extra pace and bounce and suddenly lose the plot.

"Our bowling attack has taken a lot of confidence from the last game and we have come to a wicket with some pace and bounce, something we are used to. Makhaya [Ntini] bowled superbly with Shaun [Pollock] the other night [against Sri Lanka]. He was quick and his lines were superb to the left-handers," Smith added.

Batting is a major worry for South Africa in this tournament. In the two matches played so far, only A B de Villiers has scored a fifty.

"The batsmen just need a bit of time [at the wicket]. We have done a lot of hard work and just need to get off to a good start," said the left-hander.

For Pakistan, a major worry is the form of Shahid Afridi [Images], who has failed to get going with the bat. The dashing right-hander, promoted to number five spot in this tournament, has scored just five runs in two matches.

"He is just going through a bad patch. He is still a very good player and we will support him. We hope he will produce the goods soon," coach Bob Woolmer [Images] said.

South Africa will be hoping to maintain the momentum of their last win to this match. On the other hand, Pakistan are hoping that the players bounce back in style after the loss to New Zealand.

If you believe in statistics, then South Africa start as favourites. In 15 one-dayers played between the two sides on neutral venues, South Africa have won 12.