New Zealand don’t have such problems of plenty. The batting looks amazingly thin in Ryder’s absence. Aaron Redmond, who was too jetlagged to play the previous game, should come in. “Grant took part in training this morning and the injection to see how it’s going – the injection works when he bats but not when he bowls,” Daniel Vettori said. “We’ll leave it till the last possible minute before making a decision.”

New Zealand (probable): 1 Brendon McCullum (wk), 2 Aaron Redmond, 3 Martin Guptill, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Neil Broom, 6 Grant Elliot/Scott Styris, 7 James Franklin, 8 Daniel Vettori (capt), 9 Kyle Mills, 10 Shane Bond, 11 Ian Butler.

Watch out for…

Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor are two of the most experienced batsmen in the New Zealand line-up. How well they strike a balance between attacking and anchoring will be key to their team’s chances.

Younis Khan has stalled his team’s momentum twice in the two matches he has batted. He is the kind of captain who wants to earn respect as a player first, and will be under pressure to set that record straight on a pitch that is likely to test the techniques of Pakistan’s batsmen.

Pitch and conditions

Vettori expects a pitch similar to the one New Zealand scored 300-plus on against Sri Lanka. “Looks like the Sri Lanka wicket, lots of runs in it. If so we’re going to have to step up with the bat.” There’s only a 40% chance of rain but if the match is washed out, New Zealand will go through by the virtue of having topped Group B.

Stats and trivia

• Both teams have made it to at least the semi-finals of three of the last four world events. New Zealand lost in the semi-finals of the 2007 World Cup and the World Twenty20 in the same year. Pakistan lost the final of the 2007 World Twenty20, and won the next edition of the same tournament.

• Pakistan have met New Zealand nine times in ODIs in world events, and have won six.

• All four day-night matches at the Wanderers in this tournament have been won by the chasing team.

• Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi have bowled 51.2 overs between them in this tournament, for 203 runs and 10 wickets.

Quotes

“In the semi-final, it doesn’t matter who you play against, or where you play, because it is a big game. Pressure is not only on us, but also on New Zealand. If we get through two more games we are the champions.”
Younis Khan knows the importance of the occasion.

“Momentum is with us I think. It’s a much preferable way to go into the semi-final, knowing we’ve won two big games, qualified top – where in the past we have scraped through – and go into the Pakistan game with confidence.”
Daniel Vettori draws confidence from the same ground and conditions where his team has won two in a row.