"CAN'T start a fire without a spark," Bruce Springsteen told us.

What he did not tell us, though, was that one spark cannot sustain a fire. SA will need to understand both sides of that equation in the second one-day international against Pakistan in Dubai today.

But what a spark it was.

How SA found a way to win the first game in the five-match series in Sharjah on Wednesday beggared belief, even considering the format and the fact that the opposition are the most mercurial team in cricket.

That SA should defend 183 was sublime. That they should do so by taking Pakistan's last six wickets for 17 runs was ridiculous.

"Tonight was a bit of a freak show," AB de Villiers, not usually given to hyperbole, said in the afterglow of his team's one-run victory on Wednesday.

"We just needed something like 15 runs off 50 balls," a flummoxed Misbah-ul-Haq said. "It was easy to understand - just go there and play the ball."

But it was not all mayhem and madness. Wayne Parnell's progress towards becoming a genuine all-rounder took a great leap forward in the shape of his superbly paced 56.

Only one of his six fours was edged, another was switch hit, and he pulled meatily for a six. Most importantly, Parnell was not hitting, he was batting, and under the pressure of coming to the crease at 86-6.

To win a match that looked lost for all money will have galvanised SA into a team greater than the scattered parts they were when they lost four of the five ODIs they played in Sri Lanka in July.

Yes, one game can do all that, and more. As De Villiers said, "You need a win like this sometimes to turn things around."

The equal and opposite danger is that another game can undo all that. And Pakistan are just the team to do that.

However, history suggests they could struggle today. Of the 10 ODIs Pakistan have played in Dubai, they have won only four. SA played them there three times in November 2010, and won twice.