Third time lucky for Zimbabwe as a full toss is just guided into Ervine's hands at short mid-wicket. Joyce doesn't seem too concerned, he's built a fine platform for the strokemakers who follow him and walks off with a beaming smile spread across his face.

Scorecard

Alan Lewis
Ex-Ireland captain on BBC Test Match Special

"Zimbabwe heads are down, and when you are dropping catches that's a symptom. Ireland never wilted against South Africa though. There's no-one sparking energy in the Zimbabwean team and Ireland need to be looking at a total well in excess of 300."

Zimbabwe are having a mare in the field. First they dropped Ed Joyce on 34, then do so on 105 - Craig Ervine shelling a simple catch at short cover. That signals a charge from the Irish - Andrew Balbirnie slog-sweeping six to bring up his half-century. Joyce rubs salt into the wounds by whacking a maximum over cow corner. An expensive over.

Andrew Samson
BBC Test Match Special statistician

Image source, AP

"Some 43 of Mohammad Irfan's 63 ODI wickets are batsmen 1-3 in the order (after dismissing Quinton de Kock).

"His career average against the top three in the order before today was 23.35 and against 4-11 in the order it was 38.15."

Alan Lewis
Ex-Ireland captain on BBC Test Match Special

"I feel privileged to be here to watch this. He's been the backbone of Ireland since he's come back from his England days. Joyce is so pleasant on the eye. I saw him as an 11-year-old and thought he was going to be something special."

Image source, ALLSPORT

There it is. The shot which sums up a supreme innings... back foot, getting hold of a short ball and pulling it majestically to the boundary. Ed Joyce reaches his third ODI century in style then removes his helmet and offers up the sort of grin which makes you think the left-hander is a nice guy to boot. Nothing flashy, just a good cricketer. Another full toss is hammered to the boundary by the increasingly aggressive Joyce.

Andrew Samson
BBC Test Match Special statistician

Lowest World Cup career average as opener (min five innings):

• 5.16: Shahriar Nafees (Bangladesh) - 31 runs in six innings

• 5.40: Quinton de Kock (South Africa) - 27 in five innings

• 7.14: Shahid Afridi (Pakistan) - 50 in seven innings

Brett Geeves
Ex-Australia pace bowler on BBC Test Match Special

"The game doesn't really call for him to hit giant sixes. The run-rate is slowly increasing still with 14 overs to go, so I'd love to see Joyce get through to his hundred and then he can have a real crack from there."

It's time for the batting powerplay then. Medium pacer Tawanda Mupariwa is charged with sending the ball down to the other end and Balbirnie is fortunate to slice four through the off side. Drinks.

Ilyas Najib:, external Poor effort from the Pakistani batsman, excellent start but kept losing wickets to silly decision making.

Image source, Reuters

Pakistan's giant pace bowler Mohammad Irfan gets rid of Quinton de Kock with a beauty that moves away and takes the outside edge. South Africa are 0-1 after two balls.

By the way, the target has been revised up nine runs to 232 because of the rain which has reduced the match to 47 overs per side.

Ed Joyce has clearly decided to step on the gas now. He is lucky to escape being caught at short cover when he pops up a catch, but he makes up for it by hammering a long hop for four and then chipping a nice single into the leg side. He's closing in on that century now. He's already put on 100 with Balbirnie, the stand coming off 91 balls.

Brett Geeves
Ex-Australia pace bowler on BBC Test Match Special

"Teams are now comfortable chasing 300. What's going to be hard to manage for the Zimbabweans is the wind, it does get blustery and almost blocks off one end in terms of boundary hitting."

Andrew Samson
BBC Test Match Special statistician

Image source, AP

"In his World Cup career Dale Steyn has taken 15 wickets bowling between overs 40 and 50 while conceding 81 runs in 21.1 overs at an average of 5.40 and economy rate of 3.82."

Ed Joyce really is a talented cricketer. He looks in total control out there as he nudges and nurdles the ball about. He's very orthodox in style, but every effective.

Brett Geeves
Ex-Australia pace bowler on BBC Test Match Special

"The theory is that the wicket gets better and 260-270 would be par. There is help for the bowlers early on."

Because of Zimbabwe's red kit, the umpires are having to wear aqua blue today. It's quite fetching. I imagine the boys in the middle will soon be going through their repertoire of boundary signalling as the powerplay approaches. For now, though, it's all very calm and sedate as the batsmen milk the singles.

Image source, Reuters

Pakistan 222 all out from 46.4 overs (South Africa won toss)

Not out batsman: Irfan 1

Fall of wickets: 30-1 (Shehzad 18), 92-2 (Sarfraz 49), 132-3 (Younus 37), 156-4 (Maqsood 8), 175-5 (Umar Akmal 13) 212-6 (Afridi 22), 212-7 (Riaz 0), 218-8 (Misbah 56), 221-9 (Rahat Ali 1), 222-10 (Sohail 3)

Bowling figures: Steyn 10-3-30-3, Abbott 9-0-45-2, Morkel 9.4-0-25-2, Tahir 9-1-38-1 De Villiers 6-0-43-1, Duminy 3-0-34-0

Full scorecard

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Hamilton Masakadza is a big boy, and Zimbabwe call on the strapping all-rounder to stop Ireland's growing momentum. His first delivery is ramped over the keeper's head for four by Balbirnie before the strike is rotated five times. Nine from the over.

Brett Geeves
Ex-Australia pace bowler on BBC Test Match Special

"Joyce is the key, any offerings of width or length he has jumped all over. Is he set for a Chris Gayle 215 [scored against Zimbabwe in Canberra]? Possibly not, but you've got to feel for the Zimbabweans, they've certainly played good good cricket in the tournament."