Skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi hailed the amazing atmosphere in Faisalabad after Pakistan overcame a late South African fightback to win the first one-day international by two wickets in a tense last over finish.

The Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad was hosting its first international cricket in 17 years.

The next two games of the three-match series will also be held in Faisalabad on Thursday and Saturday.

"It was a special occasion of cricket returning to Faisalabad so we are happy that we won. Thanks to the crowd here. Cricket here after a long time and thank you for coming out in big numbers," Afridi said.

The Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad was hosting its first international cricket in 17 years.

The next two games of the three-match series will also be held in Faisalabad on Thursday and Saturday.

"It was a special occasion of cricket returning to Faisalabad so we are happy that we won. Thanks to the crowd here. Cricket here after a long time and thank you for coming out in big numbers," Afridi said.

A packed 16,000 crowd welcomed the return of international cricket to the Iqbal Stadium.

But fans were left disappointed when their favourite Babar Azam then fell for just seven.

Opener Fakhar Zaman, who scored 45 with two sixes and four boundaries, and Saim Ayub, whose 39 included four fours and a six, gave Pakistan a solid start of 87.

Salman Agha hit a 71-ball 62 and added 91 for the fourth wicket with Mohammad Rizwan, sacked as ODI skipper and replaced by Shaheen Shah Afridi last month, who scored 74-ball 55.

Earlier, Pakistan had bowled out South Africa for 263 in 49.1 overs despite half-centuries from openers Quinton de Kock and teenager Lhuan-dre Pretorius.

"I think we were 20-30 runs short," said Matthew Breetzke, who was leading the team for the first time. "We lost wickets in clusters but still there are a lot of positives."

Before the match, South Africa's aggressive batter Dewald Brevis was ruled out of the series with a shoulder injury, further depleting the side already missing key players who are either injured or being rested.

De Kock capped his return to ODIs after a two-year gap with a knock of 63 and 19-year-old Pretorius scored 57 from 60 balls on his ODI debut in an opening stand of 98 after the tourists were sent in to bat.

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